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"THEY'VE   STRUCK  OIL!"   YELLED  ANDY  EXCITEDLY. 
The  Rover  Boys  in  the  Land  of  Luck.  Frontispiece  (Page  224 


THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN 
THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

OR 


BY 

ARTHUR  M.  WINFIELD 

(Edward  Stratemeyer) 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  ROVER  BOYS  AT  SCHOOL,"  "THE  ROVER 

BOYS  ON  THE  OCEAN,"  "THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  A 

HUNT,"  "THE  PUTNAM  HALL  SERIES,"  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

GPOSSET  &  DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS 

Made  in  the  United  State*  of  Ameoc» 


BOOKS  BY  ARTHUR  M.  WINFIELD 

(Edward  Stratemeyer) 


THE  FIRST  ROVER  BOYS  SERIES 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  AT  SCHOOL 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  THE  OCEAN 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  JUNGLE 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  OUT  WEST 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  CAMP 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  LAND  AND  SEA 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  THE  RIVER 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  THE  PLAINS 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  SOUTHERN  WATERS 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  THE  FARM 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  TREASURE  ISLE 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  AT  COLLEGE 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  DOWN  EAST 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  AIR 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  NEW  YORK 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  ALASKA 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  BUSINESS 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  A  TOUR 


THE  SECOND  ROVER  BOYS  SERIES 


THE  ROVER  BOYS  AT  COLBY  HALL 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  SNOWSHOE  ISLAND 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  UNDER  CANVAS 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  ON  A  HUNT 

THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 


THE  PUTNAM  HALL  SERIES 


THE  PUTNAM  HALL  CADETS 
THE  PUTNAM  HALL  RIVALS 
THE  PUTNAM  HALL  CHAMPIONS 
THE  PUTNAM  HALL  REBELLION 
THE  PUTNAM  HALL  ENCAMPMENT 
THE  PUTNAM  HALL  MYSTERY 


izmo.    Cloth.    Illustrated. 


GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  Publishers,  New  York 


COPYRIGHT,  1921,  BY 
EDWARD    STRATEMEYER 


The  Rover  Boys  in  the  Land  of  Luck 


INTRODUCTION 

MY  DEAR  BOYS  :  This  book  is  a  complete  story 
in  itself,  but  forms  the  fifth  volume  in  a  line 
issued  under  the  general  title,  "The  Second 
Rover  Boys  Series  for  Young  Americans." 

As  mentioned  in  some  volumes  of  the  first 
series,  this  line  was  started  years  ago  with  the 
publication  of  "The  Rover  Boys  at  School,"  "On, 
the  Ocean,"  and  "In  the  Jungle,"  in  which  I  intro 
duced  my  readers  to  Dick,  Tom,  and  Sam  Rover 
and  their  relatives.  The  volumes  of  the  first  series 
related  the  doings  of  these  three  Rover  boys  whilq 
at  Putnam  Hall  Military  Academy,  Brill  College, 
and  while  on  numerous  outings. 

Having  acquired  a  good  education,  the  three\ 
young  men  established  themselves  in  business  in 
New  York  and  became  married.  Dick  Rover  was 
blessed  with  a  son  and  a  daughter,  as  was  like 
wise  his  brother  Sam,  while  Tom  Rover  became, 
the  proud  father  of  twin  boys.  As  the  four  lads 
were  all  of  a  decidedly  lively  disposition,  it  was, 
thought  best  to  send  them  to  a  boarding  school, 
and  in  the  first  volume  of  the  second  series,  en 
titled  "The  Rover  Boys  at  Colby  Hall,"  I  related 

iii 


207G51S5 


ir  INTRODUCTION 

what  happened  to  them  while  attending  this  insti 
tution. 

From  Colby  Hall  the  scene  was  shifted  to 
"Snowshoe  Island,"  where  the  lads  went  for  a 
mid- Winter  outing.  Then  they  came  back  to 
Colby  Hall,  and  what  happened  to  them  at  the 
annual  encampment  of  the  young  cadets  is  related 
in  the  third  volume,  entitled  "The  Rover  Boys 
Under  Canvas." 

When  Winter  was  once  more  at  hand  the 
younger  Rovers  thought  they  would  like  to  go  on 
another  outing  with  their  chums,  and  in  a  volume 
entitled  "The  Rover  Boys  on  a  Hunt"  I  related 
how  they  came  upon  a  mysterious  house  in  the 
forest  and  uncovered  a  most  unusual  mystery. 

In  the  present  volume  the  scene  is  shifted  from 
stirring  doings  at  Colby  Hall  to  still  more  stirring 
doings  in  the  famous  oil  fields  in  the  southern 
part  of  our  country. 

Once  more  I  feel  called  upon  to  thank  my  nu 
merous  readers  for  the  many  nice  things  they 
have  said  about  these  "Rover  Boys"  books.  I; 
earnestly  hope  that  the  reading  of  the  volumes 
will  do  them  all  good. 

Affectionately  and  sincerely  yours, 

EDWARD  STRATEMEYER. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

........  1 

II    WHO  THE  ROVER  BOYS  WERE 12 

III  To  THE  RESCUE 22 

IV  IN  THE  GYMNASIUM 32 

V    THE  RIVAL  SCHOOL  .........  42 

VI    PLAYING  HIXLEY  HIGH 53 

VII    NEWS  FROM  ABROAD  ..........  63 

VIII    THE  JOKE  ON  THE  SNEAK 74 

IX    THE  GAME  WITH  LONGLEY 85 

X    A  GLORIOUS  VICTORY  ..........  96 

XI    BONFIRE  NIGHT 107 

XII    ON  BLUEBELL  ISLAND     .     .     .     ,:    •.     .     .     .  117 

XIII  WERNER'S  ATTACK     ..........  127 

XIV  BOUND  FOR  HOME 137 

XV    BACK  FROM  FRANCE  .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .  147 

XVI    DICK  ROVER'S  HEROISM .  157 

XVII    THE  GREAT  VICTORY  PARADE 167 

XVIII    BOUND  FOR  TEXAS 177 

XIX    IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 187 

XX    PLOTTING  AGAINST  DICK  ROVER    .....  197 
v 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXI    WORDS  AND  BLOWS  .    -.. 208 

XXII  AMONG  THE  OIL  WELLS  .    ...    ..    ,;    .     ,:    .     .  219 

XXIII  A  QUEER  SUMMONS  ....     .     .     .     .     .  230 

XXIV  DICK  ROVER'S  REVELATION  .     .     .     .     .     >:     .  240 
XXV  DAVENPORT'S  ACCUSATION     ....     .     .     .    260 

XXVI  NEWS  OF  RUTH    .     .     .     .     .     .    y    .     .     .  260 

XXVII    CAUGHT  BY  THE  ENEMY 270 

XXVIII  AT  THE  FRANKLIN  PLACE  .......  281 

XXIX    DAYS  OF  ANXIETY ..>:..  291 

XXX  THE  NEW  WELL— CONCLUSION    .     .    .     ,  301 


THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN 
THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 


CHAPTER    I 

OUT  IN  THE  STORM 

"JACK,  it  looks  as  if  we  were  in  for  another 
storm." 

"Yes,  and  it's  starting  right  now,"  declared 
Captain  Jack  Rover,  as  he  glanced  through  the 
trees  to  the  overcast  sky.  "Don't  you  hear  it  on, 
the  leaves?" 

"It  does  beat  everything!"  declared  Andy 
Rover,  his  usually  bright  face  clouding  a  bit.  "It 
has  rained  enough  in  the  past  two  weeks  to  last  a 
year." 

"Do  you  know,  I  like  these  constant  rains  less 
than  I  liked  being  snowbound  tip  at  Cedar 
Lodge,"  put  in  Lieutenant  Fred  Rover. 

**Oh,  there  was  some  fun  in  being  snowbound," 
declared  Randy  Rover.  "A  fellow  could  go  out 
in  it  and  have  the  best  time  ever.  But  what  can 
a  chap  do  when  the  rain  is  coming  down  to  beat 
the  band?" 

i 


2   THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Well,  you  can  go  out  and  get  a  shower-bath 
free  of  charge,"  commented  his  twin  gaily. 

"I'll  take  my  showers  in  the  gym,"  was  the 
quick  reply.  "Gee !  listen  to  that,  will  you  ?" 

There  was  no  need  for  any  of  the  four  Rover 
boys  to  listen,  or  to  look,  either.  A  blinding 
flash  of  lightning  had  swept  the  sky,  followed 
almost  immediately  by  a  crash  of  thunder  in  the 
woods  behind  them.  Then  followed  another 
crash,  as  of  falling  timber. 

"It  struck  a  tree,  I'll  bet  a  new  cap !"  exclaimed 
Jack. 

"Yes,  and  it  was  a  little  bit  too  close  for  com 
fort,  too,"  answered  his  cousin  Fred. 

The  thunder  and  lightning  were  followed  by  a 
sudden  rush  of  wind  which  caused  the  trees  of 
the  forest  to  sway  violently.  Then  the  downfall 
of  rain  increased  until  it  was  little  short  of  a 
deluge. 

"We've  got  to  get  to  some  sort  of  shelter!" 
cried  Jack.  "And  the  sooner  we  get  there  the 
better.  If  we  stay  under  the  trees  we'll  be 
soaked  to  the  skin." 

"It's  all  right  enough  to  talk  about  shelter," 
returned  Randy  quickly;  "but  where  are  you  go 
ing  to  find  it  ?  I  don't  know  of  even  a  log  shack 
in  this  vicinity." 

"We  might  leg  it  down  to  the  river,"  suggested 


OUT  IN  THE  STORM  3 

feis  brother.    "We  can't  be  very  far  from  Rocky 
Bend." 

"That's  the  talk!"  burst  out  Fred  Rover.,; 
"There  is  a  cliff  at  the  Bend,  and  I  remember 
there  is  a  hollow  under  it  which  the  river  washed 
out  years  ago." 

"The  trouble  is  you  may  find  that  hollow  filled 
with  water  now,  Fred,"  answered  Jack.  "Re 
member  the  heavy  rains  of  the  last  few  weeks, 
have  caused  something  of  a  freshet.  Even  down 
at  our  boathouse  the  water  is  unusually  high." 

Another  streak  of  lightning  followed  by  more 
thunder  interrupted  the  conversation.  Then  the 
wind  seemed  to  veer  around,  and  the  rain  came 
swishing  in  under  the  tree  where  the  four  lads 
had  been  resting. 

The  Rover  boys  had  left  Colby  Hall  immedi 
ately  after  the  day's  lessons  for  a  tramp  through 
the  woods  that  bordered  the  Rick  Rack  River. 
They  had  been  kept  indoors  more  or  less  for  over 
two  weeks,  it  raining  nearly  every  day.  But  that 
morning  the  sun  had  come  through  the  clouds, 
and  they  had  thought  to  enjoy  a  much-desired 
outing. 

All  were  clad  in  their  cadet  uniforms,  and  in 
addition  wore  their  shoulder  capes  and  also  their 
rubbers.  They  had  found  the  roads  and  paths 
running  through  the  woods  very  wet,  but  did  not 


mind  this,  being  glad  to  breathe  some  "real  air," 
as  Randy  had  expressed  it. 

"I  just  hate  to  be  boxed  in  all  the  time,"  had 
been  his  words.  "Give  me  an  outdoor  life  every, 
time."  And  then  in  the  exuberance  of  his  spirits- 
he  had  turned  what  is  commonly  termed  among 
athletes  a  cart-wheel.  But  when  his  feet  came 
down  again  he  found  the  ground  so  slippery  he, 
promptly  landed  flat  on  his  back,  much  to  the 
amusement  of  the  others. 

The  four  Rovers  had  asked  some  of  their 
chums  to  accompany  them,  but  two  of  the  other 
cadets  had  errands  to  do  in  town  and  the  others) 
wished  to  write  letters  to  their  folks  at  home,  so 
the  four  had  gone  off  by  themselves.  All  were 
good  walkers,  and  they  had  covered  a  distance  of 
several  miles  before  the  sky  became  again  over 
cast. 

"If  we  weren't  so  far  from  the  school  we  might 
make  a  dash  for  it,"  suggested  Jack. 

"We  can't  run  that  far!"  returned  Fred,  who 
was  the  smallest  of  the  boys.  "We'd  be  all  out  of 
wind  and  simply  get  wet  through  and  through. 
Let's  try  for  the  river.  We're  sure  to  find  some 
sort  of  shelter  under  the  rocks  and  bushes  at  the 
Bend." 

"All  right;  here  we  go!"  was  Jack's  quick  re 
ply.  As  the  oldest  of  the  boys  and  as  a  captain  of 


the  Colby  Hall  cadets,  he  was  naturally  looked 
upon  as  the  leader. 

He  and  Fred  started  side  by  side  and  Andy 
and  Randy  followed  closely.  Their  course  was 
along  a  winding  path  leading  over  some  rough 
rocks  and  through  some  small  overhanging 
bushes. 

"Wow!  What  are  you  trying  to  do?  Give 
me  a  shower-bath?"  grumbled  Randy  presently. 
Jack  had  pushed  some  long  and  well-saturated 
brushwood  to  one  side  in  passing.  Now  the 
bushes  swung  back  into  place,  catching  poor 
Randy  over  the  face  and  breast  and  showering 
him  with  water. 

"Excuse  me,  but  I  couldn't  hold  the  bushes 
back,"  said  Jack.  "You  had  better  not  stick  so 
close." 

"Oh,  well,  a  little  more  water  doesn't  count, 
Jack.  We  are  getting  pretty  well  soaked  any 
way." 

The  wind  was  blowing  so  furiously  the  cadets 
had  all  they  could  do  to  hold  their  capes  tight 
around  their  shoulders  as  they  progressed.  More, 
Eghtning  lit  up  the  sky,  and  then  they  heard  the 
fall  of  another  tree  some  distance  away. 

"It's  going  to  be  a  humdinger  of  a  storm,"  re 
marked  Andy. 

**Yes,  and  I'd  give  as  much  as  two  nickels  to 


6   THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

be  safe  back  at  the  Hall,"  came  from  Fred.  The 
constant  thunder  and  lightning  was  beginning  to 
get  on  the  smallest  youth's  nerves. 

Presently  the  four  Rovers  caught  sight  of  the 
river  through  the  trees.  The  stream,  which  at 
this  point  was  nothing  more  than  a  mountain 
torrent,  boiled  and  foamed  as  it  dashed  over  the 
rocks. 

"It  certainly  is  getting  high,"  said  Jack,  as  all 
paused  for  a  moment  to  catch  their  breath.  "I 
can't  remember  having  seen  it  like  this  before." 

"Just  look  at  the  stuff  coming  down,  will  you?" 
remarked  Fred.  "There  is  a  whole  lot  of  good 
firewood  going  to  waste." 

"I  guess  some  one  will  pick  it  up  by  the  time 
it  reaches  the  lake,  Fred,"  said  Randy.  "There 
are  a  lot  of  poor  people  down  at  Haven  Point 
who  get  all  their  Winter  firewood  from  this 
river." 

"Yes,  but  it's  not  all  driftwood,"  broke  in  Jack. 
"A  good  deal  of  the  timber  is  cut  up  in  the  woods 
and  then  floated  down.  That  is  quite  an  industry 
among  some  of  the  old  settlers  up  there." 

The  four  cadets  did  not  pause  very  long  to 
survey  the  scene.  Their  one  idea  was  to  find  some 
sort  of  shelter  from  the  storm;  and  with  this  in 
view  they  hurried  on  parallel  to  the  watercourse 
until  they  came  to  the  point  of  rocks  commonly 


OUT  IN  THE  STORM  7 

known  as  the  Bend.  Here  the  side  of  the  river 
on  which  they  were  located  arose  to  a  height  of 
from  twenty  to  thirty  feet.  In  one  place  there 
was  a  sheer  rocky  wall,  but  at  other  places  the 
rocks  were  much  broken  up  and,  consequently, 
irregular. 

"There  is  the  shelter  I  had  in  mind,"  said  Fred,, 
pointing  with  his  hand.  "Come  on;  I  think  it 
will  be  just  the  place  to  get  out  of  this  storm." 

"Any  kind  of  a  shelter  will  be  better  than  stand 
ing  out  here,"  answered  Randy,  and  he  and  Fred 
set  off  on  a  wild  scramble  over  the  slippery  rocks 
with  the  others  following. 

"Be  careful  that  you  don't  sprain  an  ankle  of 
break  a  leg,"  warned  Jack. 

"Gee !  a  fellow  would  have  to  be  a  regular  grass 
hopper  to  jump  over  these  rocks,"  grumbled 
Randy,  and  he  had  scarcely  uttered  the  words 
when  he  slipped  down,  landing  with  a  thump  on 
his  chest. 

"Hurt?"  queried  Jack  quickly. 

"N-no,"  spluttered  his  cousin.  "B-but  I  kn-kn- 
knocked  the  wind  out  of  m-me." 

In  a  minute  more  the  boys  had  reached  the 
shelter  of  the  rocks  where  they  overhung  the 
Rick  Rack  River.  Here  they  found  a  shelter 
several  feet  above  the  madly  rushing  torrent.  The 
place  was  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  in  length,  and 


8 

several  feet  in  depth.  Above  them  was  a  shelv 
ing  rock  which,  while  it  did  not  shelter  them  com 
pletely,  did  much  to  ward  off  the  heavy  downpour 
of  rain. 

"Not  as  comfortable  as  a  Morris  chair  in  the 
library  at  school,"  remarked  Andy,  as  he  swished 
the  water  from  his  cap,  "but  it's  a  good  deal  bet 
ter  than  being  in  the  open." 

"Provided  we  do  not  have  to  stay  here  too 
long,"  returned  his  twin.  "What  time  is  it, 
Jack?  I  didn't  bring  my  watch  with  me." 

"Quarter  to  five,"  announced  the  young  cap 
tain,  after  consulting  his  wrist-watch. 

"We  ought  to  be  on  our  way  to  the  Hall,"  said 
Fred.  "I  don't  know  what  Captain  Dale  will  say 
if  we  are  late." 

"Oh,  he'll  excuse  us  when  he  learns  the  truth," 
answered  Jack.  "Just  the  same,  I'd  give  a  good 
deal  if  we  were  back  safe  and  sound  at  the  school. 
We  certainly  can't  stay  here  all  night,  and  it  looks 
as  if  this  storm  was  going  to  be  a  lasting  one." 

"Maybe  we  are  in  for  another  couple  of  weeks 
of  rain,"  growled  Andy.  "Gee!  I  wish  the 
Weather  Bureau  would  go  out  of  existence.  They 
have  been  predicting  clearing  weather  for  over  a 
week,  and  it  never  came  at  all." 

Crouching  down  in  the  shelter  of  the  overhang 
ing  rocks,  the  four  cadets  made  themselves  as 


OUT  IN  THE  STORM  9 

comfortable  as  possible.  Over  them  and  out  on 
the  river  swished  the  wind  and  the  rain.  Just 
below  them  the  mountain  torrent  boiled  and 
foamed  with  increasing  violence,  showing  that  the 
heavy  downpour  was  making  matters  steadily 
worse. 

"I  shouldn't  want  to  have  a  cabin  on  the  edga 
of  this  stream,"  remarked  Fred  presently. 

"Not  much!"  exclaimed  Andy.  "You'd  be  in 
danger  every  minute  of  having  it  floated  away." 

"Look  there,  will  you?"  cried  Randy  a  moment 
later,  as  he  pointed  out  in  the  stream.  "If  that 
isn't  a  chicken-coop  then  I  miss  my  guess !" 

"You're  right !  And  it's  got  one  or  two  chick 
ens  in  it !"  burst  out  Jack. 

"That  shows  that  some  of  the  farm  lands  up 
the  river  must  be  under  water,"  remarked  Andy. 

"Maybe  we'll  see  a  house  or  a  barn  coming 
down  next,"  cried  Fred.  "Gee,  this  certainly  is 
some  storm !"  he  added,  as  another  flash  of  light 
ning  lit  up  the  sky.  Then  came  the  thunder,  roll 
ing  and  rumbling  along  the  river  and  the  moun 
tains  beyond. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  passed,  and  while  the 
wind  blew  as  violently  as  ever,  it  seemed  to  the 
impatient  cadets  that  the  rain  was  slackening  a 
little. 

"Maybe  it  will  let  up  in  the  next  half-hour  or 


10  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

so,"  remarked  Jack  hopefully.  "Then,  if  we  strike 
out  for  the  turnpike,  we'll  be  able  to  get  down  to 
the  Hall  in  no  time." 

"Oh,  sure !  Only  three  miles  through  the  mud ; 
and  of  course  that's  nothing,"  remarked  Andy 
airily. 

All  of  the  boys  were  sitting  in  silence,  wonder 
ing  what  their  next  move  would  be,  when  Jack 
suddenly  raised  his  hand  as  if  to  listen. 

"What  was  it?"  queried  Randy  quickly. 

"I  thought  I  heard  a  yell  for  help,"  was  the 
reply.  "Listen!" 

All  did  so,  and  presently  above  the  rushing  of 
the  wind  heard  a  man's  voice.  Then  came  a  shrill 
scream  as  if  from  a  younger  person. 

"Somebody  is  in  trouble!"  cried  Fred.  "Lis 
ten  !  He  is  calling  again !" 

All  strained  their  ears,  and  once  more  heard 
the  yells  of  the  man  borne  along  by  the  rushing 
wind.  Then  came  that  other  shrill  cry,  as  if  for 
assistance. 

"They  are  in  trouble,  all  right!" 

"Where  are  they?" 

"That  cry  came  from  up  the  river.  Whoever 
they  are,  they  must  be  right  around  the  Bend." 

"Come  on !    Let's  see  what  it  means." 

With  these  and  other  exclamations  the  four 
Rover  boys  left  the  shelter  of  the  overhanging 


OUT  IN  THE  STORM  n 

rocks  and  crawled  along  a  stony  pathway  leading 
up  the  watercourse.  Soon  they  passed  around 
the  Bend,  and  then  came  within  sight  of  a  scene 
which  almost  appalled  them.  A  mass  of  wreck 
age  consisting  of  a  small  tree  and  a  quantity  of 
newly  cut  timber  had  come  down  the  stream  and 
become  caught  among  the  jagged  rocks  above  the 
Bend,  and  in  the  midst  of  this  wreckage,  with 
the  water  rushing  and  foaming  all  around  them, 
were  a  man  and  a  boy,  struggling  wildly  to  save 
themselves  from  drowning! 


CHAPTER   II 

WHO   THE  ROVER  BOYS  WERE 

"LooK  there,  will  you!" 

"That  man  and  boy  will  surely  be  drowned!" 

"Why  don't  they  swim  ashore?" 

"Most  likely  the  stream  is  running  too  swiftly 
for  them." 

"Help!  Help!"  came  hoarsely  from  the  man. 
Evidently  his  exertions  were  beginning  to  exhaust 
him. 

"Save  me!  Save  me!"  screamed  the  boy,  who 
seemed  to  be  about  Jack's  age.  "Save  me !  Don't 
let  me  drown!" 

The  two  unfortunate  victims  had  caught  sight 
of  the  cadets,  who  had  by  this  time  come  as  close 
to  them  as  the  rocks  on  the  bank  permitted.  The 
man  waved  his  arm  frantically  toward  them. 

"Can't  you  swim?"  yelled  Jack,  to  make  him- 
sef  heard  above  the  wind  and  the  rushing  of  the 
water. 

"I'm  caught  fast !"  the  man  gasped  out.  "And 
my  son  is  caught  fast  too." 

12 


WHO  THE  ROVER  BOYS  WERE  13 

"Both  of  my  feet  are  fast!"  screamed  the  boy. 
"Oh,  please  help  us!  Don't  leave  us  here  to  be 
drowned !" 

"It's  a  couple  of  logs  of  wood  that  are  holding 
us,"  went  on  the  man  in  a  hoarser  tone  than  ever. 
"They  are  jammed  in  between  us  and  some  rocks' 
and  a  floating  tree.  If  you  can  only  start  the 
tree,  maybe  we  can  get  out  of  here." 

Both  the  man  and  the  boy  were  in  the  rushing 
water  up  to  their  armpits,  and  occasionally  the. 
dashing  element  would  fly  over  them  in  a  spray 
that  hid  them  completely  from  view. 

"Oh,  boys,  this  is  awful!"  groaned  Fred. 
"Can't  we  do  something  for  them?" 

"We've  got  to  do  something,"  answered  Jack. 
"We  can't  leave  them  there  to  drown." 

"But  what  are  we  going  to  do?"  demanded 
Andy  soberly. 

"He  said  something  about  loosening  the  tree 
that  has  drifted  up  alongside  them,"  came  from 
Randy.  "Do  you  think  we  can  do  it,  Jack?" 

"I  don't  know.  But  we  can  have  a  try  at  it, 
anyway.  And  if  we  can't  push  the  tree,  maybe 
we  can  get  at  the  logs  that  are  holding  them 
down." 

Jack  was  looking  up  the  river  as  he  spoke,  and 
at  a  distance  saw  a  series  of  rocks  jutting  out 
for  a  considerable  distance  into  the  stream. 


14  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"I  am  going  out  on  those  rocks  and  then  trust 
to  luck  to  get  over  to  the  other  side,"  he  said. 
"We  can't  get  at  that  fallen  tree  from  this  side.'* 

"All  right,  I'm  with  you,  Jack,"  said  Randy. 
And  together  they  made  their  way  out  on  the 
rocks  mentioned  and  the  others  slowly  and  cau 
tiously  followed. 

I  know  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  introduce 
the  Rover  boys  to  my  old  readers.  But  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  are  now  meeting  them  for 
the  first  time  a  few  words  of  introduction  will 
not  come  amiss. 

In  my  first  volume,  entitled  "The  Rover  Boys 
at  School,"  I  related  how  three  brothers,  Dick, 
Tom  and  Sam  Rover,  were  sent  to  Putnam  Hall 
Military  Academy,  where  they  made  a  great  num 
ber  of  friends,  including  a  cadet  named  Lawrence 
Colby. 

After  passing  through  Putnam  Hall,  the  boys 
attended  Brill  College,  and  then  joined  their  father 
in  business  in  New  York  City,  with  offices  on; 
Wall  Street.  They  organized  The  Rover  Com-, 
pany,  of  which  Dick  was  now  president,  Tom 
secretary  and  general  manager,  and  Sam  treas 
urer.  The  three  youths  were  married  and  lived 
in  three  connecting  houses  on  Riverside  Drive, 
overlooking  the  Hudson  River. 

About  a  year  after  their  marriage  Dick  and 


WHO  THE  ROVER  BOYS  WERE  T* 

i  J 

his  wife  became  the  parents  of  a  son,  who  was 
named  John,  after  Mrs.  Rover's  uncle,  Mr.  John 
Laning.  This  son  was  followed  by  a  daughter^ 
named  Martha,  after  her  great-aunt  Martha  of 
Valley  Brook  Farm.  The  boy  Jack,  as  he  was 
commonly  called,  was  a  sturdy  youth  with  many 
of  the  qualities  which  had  made  his  father  so 
successful. 

It  was  around  this  time  that  Tom  Rover  and 
his  wife  Nellie  came  to  the  front  with  a  great 
surprise.  This  was  in  the  nature  of  a  pair  of 
lively  twins,  one  of  whom  was  named  Anderson, 
after  his  grandfather,  and  the  other  Randolph, 
after  his  great-uncle  Randolph  of  Valley  Brook 
Farm.  Andy  and  Randy,  as  they  were  always 
called,  were  exceedingly  active  lads,  in  that  par 
ticular  being  a  second  edition  of  their  father, 
Tom. 

About  the  time  Tom's  twins  were  born  Sam 
Rover  and  his  wife  Grace  became  the  parents  of 
a  little  girl,  whom  they  called  Mary,  after  Mrs. 
Laning.  Then,  a  year  later,  the  girl  was  followed 
by  a  boy,  who  was  christened  Fred  after  Sam 
Rover's  old  school  chum,  Fred  Garrison. 

Residing  so  close  together,  the  younger  genera 
tion  of  Rover  boys,  as  well  as  the  sisters,  were 
brought  up  very  much  as  one  family.  When  they 
were  old  enough  all  were  at  first  sent  to  private 


16    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

schools  in  the  Metropolis.  But  soon  the  boys,  led 
by  Andy  and  Randy,  showed  such  a  propensity 
for  "cutting  loose"  that  their  parents  were  com 
pelled  to  hold  a  consultation. 

"We'll  have  to  send  them  to  some  strict  board 
ing  school — some  military  academy,"  said  Dick 
Rover. 

At  that  time  Lawrence  Colby,  the  Putnam  Hall 
chum  of  the  older  Rovers,  was  at  the  head  of  a 
military  academy  called  Colby  Hall.  To  this  in 
stitution  Jack,  Fred  and  the  twins  were  sent,  as 
related  in  detail  in  the  first  volume  of  my  second 
series,  entitled  "The  Rover  Boys  at  Colby  Hall." 
This  military  school  was  located  about  half  a  mile 
from  the  town  of  Haven  Point,  on  Clearwater 
Lake.  At  the  head  of  the  lake  was  the  Rick 
Rack  River,  running  down  from  the  mountains 
and  woods  beyond. 

The  school  consisted  of  a  large  stone  building 
facing  the  river  at  a  point  not  far  from  where 
the  stream  emptied  into  the  lake.  Close  by  was  a 
smaller  building  occupied  by  Colonel  Colby  and 
his  family  and  some  of  the  professors,  and  at  a 
short  distance  were  a  gymnasium  and  a  boat- 
house,  and  likewise  bathing  pavilions. 

On  arriving  at  Colby  Hall  the  younger  Rovers 
found  several  of  their  friends  awaiting  them,  in 
cluding  Dick  Powell  and  Gifford  Garrison.  They 


WHO  THE  ROVER  BOYS  WERE  17 

also  ran  into  Nappy  Martell,  who  had  been  far 
from  friendly  with  them  while  in  New  York,  and 
likewise  had  trouble  with  an  overgrown  bully 
named  Slugger  Brown,  who  was  Nappy's  crony. 

As  mentioned,  Colby  Hall  was  located  about 
half  a  mile  beyond  Haven  Point.  On  the  oppo 
site  side  of  the  town  was  Clearwater  Hall,  a 
boarding  school  for  girls.  During  a  panic  at  a 
fire  in  a  motion  picture  house  the  Rover  boys 
became  acquainted  with  several  girls  from  Clear- 
water  Hall,  including  Ruth  Stevenson,  May 
Powell,  Alice  Strobell  and  Annie  Larkins.  They 
discovered  that  May  was  Dick  Powell's  cousin, 
and  the  whole  crowd  of  young  people  soon  became 
friends.  Later  on  Mary  and  Martha  Rover  be 
came  pupils  at  the  girls'  school. 

Ruth  Stevenson  had  an  old  Uncle  Barney.  The 
Rover  boys,  while  out  hunting  one  day,  did  the 
old  man  a  great  service,  and  for  this  he  was  so 
grateful  that  he  invited  them  to  spend  their  Win 
ter  holidays  with  him ;  which  they  did,  as  related 
in  "The  Rover  Boys  on  Snowshoe  Island." 

On  this  island  the  lads  met  their  former  ene 
mies,  Nappy  Martell  and  Slugger  Brown,  as  well 
as  Asa  Lemm,  a  discharged  teacher  of  Colby 
Hall.  The  boys  exposed  a  plot  against  old  Uncle 
Barney,  and  in  the  end  caused  the  old  hunter's 
enemies  to  leave  Snowshoe  Island  in  disgust. 


18  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"I  guess  we  haven't  seen  the  last  of  Nappy 
and  Slugger,"  said  Jack ;  and  he  was  right.  Those 
two  unworthies  turned  up  once  again,  as  related 
in  the  volume  entitled  "The  Rover  Boys  Under 
Canvas."  In  that  book  I  told  how  the  cadets 
went  into  their  annual  encampment  and  how  after 
a  Spring  election  for  officers  Jack  was  made  cap 
tain  of  Company  C  and  Fred  made  first  lieuten 
ant  of  the  same  command. 

Among  the  cadets  who  wished  to  become  a 
captain  was  one  named  Gabe  Werner,  a  great 
chum  at  that  time  of  a  lad  named  Bill  Glutts. 
Having  failed  of  election,  Werner  did  all  he 
could  to  make  things  uncomfortable  for  the  Rov 
ers,  and  in  his  actions  he  was  aided  by  Glutts. 
But  these  two  young  rascals  were  discovered  in 
some  of  their  nefarious  doings,  and,  becoming 
alarmed,  Gabe  Werner  left  the  school  camp  and 
did  not  return.  Glutts  was  brought  before  Cap 
tain  Dale,  the  teacher  in  charge  of  the  camp,  and 
received  a  stern  lecture  and  was  deprived  of  many 
liberties. 

While  the  Rover  boys  were  at  Colby  Hall  the 
great  war  in  Europe  opened  and  our  country  was 
overrun  with  German  spies  and  sympathizers. 
During  their  time  under  canvas  the  boys  made 
several  surprising  discoveries,  and  in  the  end 
helped  the  secret  service  men  to  capture  a  hid- 


WHO  THE  ROVER  BOYS  WERE  19 

den  German  submarine.  They  likewise  helped  to 
round  up  the  fathers  of  Nappy  Martell  and  Slug 
ger  Brown.  Mr.  Martell  and  Mr.  Brown  were 
sent  to  prison  on  the  charge  of  aiding  the  enemy, 
while  Nappy  and  Slugger  were  marched  off  to  a 
detention  camp  in  the  South.  When  being  taken 
away  Nappy  and  Slugger  were  very  bitter  against 
the  Rovers,  and  vowed  they  would  square  ac 
counts  the  first  chance  they  got. 

"And  they  will  do  it,  too.  You'll  see,"  was 
Fred's  comment.  "They  are  as  mad  as  hornets, 
and  they  will  do  everything  they  can  think  of  to 
make  trouble  for  us." 

When  the  call  for  army  volunteers  came  Dick 
Rover  and  his  brother  Sam  had  lost  no  time  in 
enlisting.  At  first  Tom  Rover  had  been  unable 
to  get  away.  But  soon  the  business  in  New  York 
City  had  been  left  in  reliable  hands,  and  the  three 
fathers  of  the  boys  had  gone  to  the  trenches  in 
Europe  to  do  their  bit  for  Uncle  Sam.  They  had 
been  in  several  engagements,  and  Tom  and  Sam 
had  received  shell  wounds,  while  Dick  Rover 
had  suffered  somewhat  from  a  gas  attack. 

"Well,  we  can  be  thankful  that  it  is  no  worse," 
had  been  Jack's  comment  on  receiving  this  news 
from  abroad.  "Just  the  same,  I  wish  this  awful 
war  was  at  an  end." 

During  the  Winter  Gif  Garrison  had  received 


•20    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

a  letter  from  his  uncle  stating  that  he  and  his 
chums  might  use  a  bungalow  up  in  the  woods 
known  as  Cedar  Lodge.  Gif  at  once  invited  Dick 
Powell,  often  called  "Spouter"  because  of  his 
fondness  for  long  speeches,  and  the  Rover  boys  to 
become  his  guests  on  an  outing  to  the  lodge.  And 
how  all  of  the  lads  went  to  that  place  has  been 
related  in  detail  in  the  volume  previous  to  this, 
entitled  "The  Rover  Boys  on  a  Hunt."  In  that 
book  they  came  upon  a  house  in  the  forest,  and 
there  uncovered  a  most  unusual  mystery.  They 
found  that  some  Germans  were  getting  ready  to 
establish  a  wireless  telegraph  station,  and  aided 
in  the  round-up  of  these  men  by  the  United  States 
authorities. 

Mixed  up  with  the  German  sympathizers  were 
Gabe  Werner  and  Bill  Glutts,  and  these  badly 
scared  youths  had  all  they  could  do  to  convince' 
the  Authorities  that  they  were  really  patriotic. 
Glutts  and  Werner  considered  that  they  had  been 
brought  into  ill  repute  by  the  connivance  of  the 
Rovers  and  their  chums,  and  they  were  exceed 
ingly  bitter  against  the  cadets. 

"We  are  certainly  making  some  real  enemies," 
was  the  way  Jack  expressed  himself.  "First 
Nappy  and  Slugger,  and  now  Glutts  and  Werner. 
Every  one  of  those  fellows  will  do  all  he  can  to 
injure  us." 


WHO  THE  ROVER  BOYS  WERE  21 

"Well,  all  we  can  do  is  to  keep  our  eyes  open 
for  them,"  was  Randy's  reply.  "Personally,  I'm 
not  afraid  of  any  of  them." 

"They  are  all  sneaks,  and  sneaks  are  always 
cowards,"  added  Fred. 

Having  finished  their  outing  at  Cedar  Lodge, 
the  four  Rovers  and  their  two  chums  had  re 
turned  to  Colby  Hall,  there  to  plunge  once  more 
into  their  studies  and  their  other  duties  as  cadets. 
It  was  now  early  Spring,  and  talk  of  baseball 
filled  the  air,  but  with  so  much  rain  outdoor  prac 
tice  was  practically  impossible. 

Then  had  come  a  ray  of  sunshine,  and  the  four 
Rovers  had  ventured  forth  that  afternoon  think 
ing  to  have  a  pleasant  little  outing.  But  the  sun 
shine  had  quickly  passed,  and  now  they  found 
themselves  out  in  a  furious  storm  and  face  to  face 
with  a  situation  that  was  as  appalling  as  it  was 
dangerous, 


CHAPTER    III 

TO  THE  RESCUE 

"DON'T  leave  us !  Don't  leave  us !"  shouted  the 
man  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  as  he  saw  Jack 
and  the  others  crawling  over  the  rocky  shore  up 
the  stream. 

"We're  not  going  to  leave  you,"  answered  the 
young  captain  of  the  Colby  Hall  cadets.  "We 
are  going  to  try  to  get  to  that  tree  and  move  it. 
Keep  up  your  courage." 

"Oh,  please  hurry!"  screamed  the  boy  in  the 
stream.  "The  water  is  getting  higher  every  min 
ute,  and  it's  flying  right  into  our  faces!" 

"We'll  do  what  we  can,"  shouted  back  Randy, 
and  the  others  added  similar  words  of  encourage 
ment. 

It  was  no  easy  task  for  the  Rovers  to  make 
their  way  over  the  wet  rocks,  covered  here  and 
there  with  slippery  grass  and  weeds.  More  than 
once  one  or  another  went  down,  and  Fred  gave 
his  left  elbow  a  bump,  while  his  cousin  Andy 
received  a  scraping  of  the  shins. 

22 


TO  THE  RESCUE  23 

Fortunately,  the  downpour  of  rain  was  abating, 
so  that  they  had  a  chance  to  dash  the  water  from 
their  caps  and  faces  and  see  better  what  they 
were  trying  to  do.  They  soon  reached  the  last 
of  the  rocks  jutting  out  from  the  shore,  and 
here  the  four  came  again  to  a  halt  to  view  the 
situation. 

"There  is  no  help  for  it — we've  got  to  jump 
right  in  and  trust  to  luck  to  reach  the  other  side," 
said  Jack. 

"Let  us  take  hold  of  hands.  Maybe  we  can 
brace  ourselves  better,"  suggested  Randy. 

This  plan  was  carried  out,  and  a  moment  later 
found  the  four  cadets  in  water  up  to  their  knees. 
So  swift  was  the  current  they  had  all  they  could 
do  to  keep  their  feet,  and  Andy  would  have  gone 
down  had  not  his  brother  and  Fred  held  him 
up. 

It  was  lucky  for  the  lads  that  they  had  chosen 
a  spot  where  the  stream  was  rather  broad  and 
shallow,  widening  out  on  the  side  opposite  to  the 
rocky  bluff.  Nevertheless,  at  one  point  they  found 
themselves  in  water  up  to  their  waists,  and  here 
they  had  to  struggle  with  might  and  main  to  keep 
from  being  swept  down  to  where  the  man  and  the 
boy  were  held  prisoners. 

"Say,  this  is  awful !"  gasped  Fred,  when  he 
at  last  found  himself  on  a  safer  footing. 


24 

"This  river  is  running  like  a  mill-race,"  was 
Randy's  comment. 

When  they  had  reached  a  spot  where  the  water 
was  less  than  a  foot  deep  they  stopped  once  more 
to  regain  their  breath,  and  then,  led  by  Jack, 
moved  cautiously  down  the  river  to  the  point 
where  was  located  the  drifting  tree  the  man  had 
mentioned. 

"Just  see  if  you  can't  pull  it  toward  the  shore," 
directed  the  man.  "But  be  careful  that  you  don't 
get  hit  when  it  swings  around." 

It  was  now  that  the  young  cadets'  lessons  in 
bridge  building  while  in  camp  came  into  good 
play.  Jack  gave  orders  as  to  just  how  the  swing 
ing  around  of  the  tree  might  be  managed.  Then 
all  took  hold  and  pulled  with  might  and  main. 

"I  don't  see  that  it  has  budged  any,"  gasped 
Fred,  after  half  a  minute  of  the  hardest  kind  of 
effort. 

"Try  it  again,  boys!"  shouted  Jack  encourag 
ingly.  "Now  then — all  together!  One — two — 
three!" 

Again  the  four  sturdy  boys  exerted  all  their 
strength  on  the  tree,  and  this  time  they  felt  the 
lower  end,  which  had  been  wedged  in  between 
some  logs  and  rocks,  give  way.  Then,  as  they 
hauled  the  tree  still  farther  from  the  center  of 
the  river,  it  suddenly  swung  around  and,  caught 


TO  THE  RESCUE  25 

by  the  current,  went  dashing  along  on  its  course. 

"Hurrah!  There  she  goes!"  shouted  Randy, 
as  the  tree  disappeared  in  a  veil  of  foam  and 
spray. 

"How  about  it  ?"  shouted  Jack  to  the  man  and 
boy.  "Can  you  get  loose  now?" 

Both  of  the  prisoners  were  exerting  their  utmost 
to  release  themselves  and  did  not  answer.  But 
their  efforts  were  in  vain,  and  soon  they  ceased 
to  struggle. 

"It's  no  use!  One  of  the  logs  is  holding  our 
feet  right  against  the  rocks !"  gasped  out  the  man. 
"We  don't  seem  to  be  able  to  budge  it." 

"I'm  afraid  it  is  going  to  break  my  leg!" 
screamed  the  boy.  "I  can't  stand  the  pressure 
much  longer." 

"I'm  going  out  there  and  see  what  I  can  do," 
said  Jack. 

"If  you  go,  so  will  I,"  returned  Randy 
promptly. 

"You  can  count  me  in,  too,"  announced  Andy 
and  Fred  simultaneously. 

"Look  out  that  you  don't  get  drowned,"  went 
on  Jack  quickly. 

"We'll  be  as  safe  as  you'll  be,"  returned  Fred. 

All  went  up  the  river  a  short  distance  so  that 
they  might  not  be  carried  past  the  spot  where 
the  man  and  the  boy  were  located.  Then  they 


26  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

struck  out  bravely  for  the  place  where  the  logs 
were  jammed  in  a  heap.  Some  of  the  sticks 
seemed  to  have  been  cut  for  railroad  ties,  while 
others  looked  like  fence  rails,  and  there  were  not 
less  than  two  dozen  of  them  in  a  jumble  among 
the  jagged  rocks. 

In  a  few  seconds  the  cadets  found  themselves 
in  this  jam  with  the  furious  current  of  the  river 
trying  to  sweep  them  to  one  side  or  the  other. 
But  they  held  fast,  and  as  rapidly  as  possible 
loosened  one  log  or  rail  after  another. 

"Look  out  there!"  yelled  Andy  presently,  and 
all  heeded  his  warning.  Then  several  of  the  logs 
bobbed  up  and  went  flying  down  the  river. 

This  released  the  log  holding  the  man  and  the 
boy,  and  the  pair  came  up  spluttering. 

"Do  you  think  you  can  swim  ashore?"  ques 
tioned  Jack. 

"I  guess  I  can  make  it,"  answered  the  man 
somewhat  weakly.  "Look  after  my  kid,  will 
you?" 

"We  sure  will !"  answered  Jack. 

With  Fred  and  Andy  beside  him,  the  man 
struck  out  for  the  shore,  and  all  were  soon  car 
ried  down  the  stream  and  under  the  rocky  bluff. 
In  the  meanwhile,  Jack  and  Randy  did  what  they 
could  to  aid  the  boy,  and  then  followed  the  others. 

The  swiftly  flowing  current  of  the  Rick  Rack 


TO  THE  RESCUE  2£ 

carried  the  entire  party  well  past  the  overhanging 
rocks  and  then  onward  to  a  point  where  the  river 
widened  considerably.  Here  they  managed  to 
get  a  footing. 

"Thank  fortune  we  are  out  of  that !"  exclaimed 
Fred,  as  he  and  the  others  made  their  way  over 
the  sand  and  rocks  and  through  the  bushes  to 
where  there  was  a  grassy  slope  backed  up  by  a 
number  of  trees. 

"It  was  a  mighty  close  shave  for  me  and  my 
kid,"  returned  the  man.  "I  thought  sure  at  one 
time  we  would  be  drowned." 

"And  we  would  have  been  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
these  fellows  coming  to  save  us,"  added  the  boy 
gratefully,  and  he  shot  an  admiring  glance  at  the 
four  dripping  cadets. 

"Are  you  soldier  boys?"  questioned  the  man, 
as  the  whole  party  gathered  under  the  shelter  of  a 
tree.  By  this  time  the  rain  was  nothing  more 
than  a  fine  drizzle. 

"Not  exactly,"  answered  Jack.  "We  are  cadets 
attending  Colby  Hall  Military  Academy." 

"Oh,  yes,  I've  heard  about  that  school,"  said 
the  man.  "They  tell  me  it's  a  very  fine  place. 
Well,  all  I've  got  to  say  is,  if  all  the  boys  there 
are  as  brave  as  you  lads  you  certainly  must  have  a 
bang-up  crowd,"  and  he  smiled  broadly.  Then 
he  clapped  Jack  on  his  shoulder.  "I  thank  you 


28  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  for  what  you  did 
for  us.  It  was  a  nervy  thing  to  do — to  risk  your 
lives  in  that  river.  I  shall  never  forget  it.  If 
I  were  a  rich  man  I'd  want  to  reward  you,  but 
I  must  admit  I'm  just  about  as  poor  as  they  make 
>em." 

"We  don't  want  any  reward,"  answered  Jack. 
"I'm  glad  to  be  of  service  to  you." 

"I  guess  we're  all  glad,"  added  Randy,  and  the 
others  nodded. 

Then  the  young  cadets  introduced  themselves 
and  the  man  and  the  boy  did  the  same.  The  man 
said  his  name  was  John  Franklin. 

"This  is  my  son  Phil,"  he  added.  "We  don't 
belong  around  here — that  is,  not  exactly.  You 
see,  I  used  to  own  a  farm  which  was  mostly  in 
Texas  and  partly  in  Oklahoma,  a  pretty  big  farm, 
though  it  wasn't  very  productive.  Some  oil  sharp 
ers  came  along  and  made  a  sort  of  three-cornered 
deal,  the  particulars  of  which  I  need  not  give  you, 
but  as  a  consequence  almost  before  I  knew  it  I 
was  done  out  of  my  farm  and  had  next  to  no 
money  in  my  pocket.  Then  I  came  up  here  ex 
pecting  to  see  some  friends  who  might  help  me  in 
fighting  those  rascals,  but  the  friends  had  moved 
away,  and  nobody  knew  where  to,  so  I  was  almost 
stranded.  Then  Phil  and  I  got  work  up  in  the 
woods,  cutting  timber  and  doing  other  odd  jobs, 


TO  THE  RESCUE  29 

and  we  had  steady  employment  until  this  rainy 
season  set  in." 

"So  you  came  all  the  way  from  Texas,  did 
you  ?"  said  Randy  to  Phil  Franklin,  with  a  smile. 
"It's  a  pretty  long  distance." 

"Oh,  we  got  sick  of  it  down  there  after  dad 
was  done  out  of  his  farm  by  those  oil  sharpers," 
answered  Phil  Franklin. 

"Did  they  find  oil  on  your  farm?"  questioned 
Fred. 

"No.  That  is,  they  hadn't  up  to  the  time  we 
left.  You  know  it  takes  a  lot  of  time  and  money 
to  sink  an  oil  well.  But  they  did  us  out  of  our 
farm,  and  that's  bad  enough." 

"Some  day,  if  I  ever  get  on  my  feet  again,  I'm 
going  back  to  Texas  and  have  it  out  with  those 
rascals,"  announced  John  Franklin.  "They 
claimed  that  their  dealings  with  me  were  perfectly 
legal,  but  I  don't  look  at  it  that  way.  However, 
boys,  that  affair  has  nothing  to  do  with  you.  As 
I  said  before,  I  wish  I  could  reward  you,  but  all 
I  can  do  is  to  give  you  my  very  best  thanks." 

"And  you  can  bet  I'm  thankful,  too!"  added 
Phil  Franklin  earnestly. 

"Isn't  it  rather  strange  that  you  should  be  up 
here  in  such  a  storm  as  this?"  questioned  the 
man  from  Texas. 

"We  got  tired  of  staying  indoors  on  account 


30  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

of  the  rain,"  answered  Jack;  "so  when  it  seemed 
to  break  away  we  thought  we  saw  a  chance  to 
take  a  hike  just  for  the  fun  of  it." 

"And  now  we're  glad  we  did  take  a  hike,"  put 
in  Randy. 

"We  were  trying  to  cross  the  stream  by  the  aid 
of  a  rope,"  explained  John  Franklin.  "The  rope 
broke,  and  Phil  was  swept  down  the  stream  and 
I  went  after  him  to  make  sure  that  he  didn't  get 
drowned.  Then  we  got  mixed  up  in  the  logs  and 
the  tree,  and  you  know  the  rest." 

"You  say  you  belong  up  the  river?"  questioned 
Andy. 

"Yes.  We've  been  stopping  at  Bossv.  rd's 
camp.  I  suppose  we  ought  to  be  getting  back 
there  now,  or  he'll  be  wondering  what  has  become 
of  us.  Besides  that,  we'll  want  some  dry  cloth 
ing.  And  you  fellows  will  want  some  dry  cloth 
ing,  too.  Otherwise  you  might  catch  cold." 

"Yes,  we'll  hike  back  to  the  school  as  fast  as 
possible,"  answered  Jack.  He  held  out  his  hand. 
"Good-bye  to  you,  and  good  luck." 

"You  won't  mind  if  I  come  down  to  see  you 
some  time,  will  you?"  questioned  the  man.  "I 
want  your  teachers  to  know  how  brave  you  have 
been." 

"Come  down,  by  all  means,"  answered  Jack. 
"But  don't  pile  on  the  bravery  stuff,  please.  We 


TO  THE  RESCUE  31 

did  only  what  any  healthy  young  fellows  would 
do." 

"I  don't  know  about  that.  I  guess  I  know  real 
heroes  when  I  see  'em/'  answered  John  Franklin, 
with  a  grin. 

"I'd  like  to  see  you  fellows  drill.  It  must  be 
great,"  put  in  his  son  Phil. 

"Come  down  any  time  and  ask  for  us,"  an 
swered  Fred.  He  was  rather  taken  by  Phil 
Franklin's  open  manner. 

A  few  words  more  passed,  and  then  the  Frank 
lins  hurried  up  the  river  in  the  direction  of  the 
lumber  camp  from  which  they  had  come.  Then 
the  Rovers  turned  in  the  direction  of  Colby  Hall. 

"I'm  glad  we  went  to  the  rescue,"  remarked 
Andy,  when  on  the  way.  "They  seem  a  pretty 
decent  sort." 

"All  the  way  from  Texas,"  mused  his  twin. 
"That's  certainly  some  distance." 

As  the  Rovers  hurried  to  the  Hall  they  talked 
the  matter  of  the  rescue  over  in  all  of  its  details. 

"It  was  certainly  a  queer  meeting,"  was  Fred's 
comment.  But  little  did  he  or  his  cousins  dream 
of  the  still  queerer  meeting  with  the  Franklins 
that  was  to  come  in  the  future. 


CHAPTER   IV 

IN    THE    GYMNASIUM 

"COMPANY  attention!  Carry  arms!  Present 
arms!  Shoulder  arms!  Forward  march!" 

Captain  Jack  Rover,  assisted  by  Lieutenant 
Fred  Rover  and  his  other  officers,  was  drilling 
Company  C  in  a  corner  of  the  gymnasium  of 
Colby  Hall.  It  was  two  days  after  the  adventure 
on  the  Rick  Rack  River,  and  it  was  still  raining, 
so  that  drilling  in  the  open  was  almost  out  of 
the  question. 

The  four  cadets  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
rescue  of  John  Franklin  and  his  son  Phil  had  ex 
plained  the  situation  to  Captain  Dale  on  their  re 
turn  to  the  school  and  had  been  warmly  praised 
by  that  old  West  Point  military  man  for  their 
bravery. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  Captain  Dale  had 
been  in  charge  of  the  school  since  Colonel  Colby 
had  volunteered  for  the  war  and  gone  to  France 
to  fight. 

Many  of  the  cadets  hated  the  rain  and  hoped  it 
32 


IN  THE  GYMNASIUM 


33 


would  soon  clear.  They  loved  drilling  in  the  open 
far  more  than  when  held  indoors,  and  they  also 
wished  to  get  at  baseball  and  other  Spring  sports. 

"It's  a  shame  it  doesn't  let  up,"  remarked  Gif 
Garrison,  after  the  drilling  had  come  to  an  end 
and  the  rifles  had  been  put  away  in  their  cases 
along  the  wall.  Gif  was  a  big  youth,  and  the 
recognized  head  of  many  of  the  athletic  sports. 

"Well,  we  have  to  take  such  matters  as  they 
come,"  returned  Spouter  Powell,  running  his  hand 
through  his  heavy  brush  of  hair.  "Were  it  not 
for  the  gentle  rains,  and  the  dews  later  on,  the 
fields  and  slopes  of  the  hills  would  not  be  clothed 
in  the  verdant  green  which  all  true  lovers  of  nature 
so  much  admire.  Instead  we  might  have  a  bleak 
barrenness,  a  dissolution  which  would  appall " 

"Gee,  Spouter  is  at  it  again!"  broke  in  Will 
Hendry,  usually  called  Fatty  by  his  chums  because 
of  his  rotundity.  Fatty  was  extremely  good- 
natured,  and  as  a  consequence  nearly  every  one 
admired  him. 

"Nothing  gentle  about  this  rain!"  exclaimed 
Dan  Soppinger,  another  cadet.  "It's  coming  down 
in  bucketfuls.  Say,  that  puts  me  in  mind — I've 
goF  an  essay  to  write  on  moisture.  Can  any  of 
you  tell  me  why  condensation  takes  place 
when " 

"Hurrah !  the  human  question-box  is  once  more 


34  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

with  us,"  broke  in  Andy  Rover.  "Dan,  I  think 
you'd  die  if  you  couldn't  ask  questions." 

"Humph!  how  is  a  fellow  going  to  learn  any 
thing  if  he  doesn't  ask  questions?"  retorted  Dan. 

"You  might  walk  around  with  a  set  of  encyclo 
pedias  in  your  pocket,"  proposed  Randy. 

"That's  it,  Dan.  Get  a  regular  thirty-volume 
set  while  you  are  at  it.  You've  got  about  thirty 
pockets  in  your  suit,  haven't  you?  You  could 
put  one  in  each  pocket." 

"I  wish  it  would  clear  off  to-morrow,  at  least 
enough  to  go  to  Haven  Point,"  said  Fred.  "They 
have  a  dandy  moving  picture  at  Mr.  Falstein's 
place." 

"Oh,  I  know  the  piece  you  mean,  Fred,"  cried 
Andy  slyly.  "It's  entitled  'Meeting  the  Girls ;  or, 
The  Great  Conspiracy.' ' 

"Did  the  girls  say  they  were  going  to  see  the 
pictures,  Fred?"  questioned  Jack  quickly. 

"Mary  telephoned  that  they  might  go,"  an 
swered  Fred.  "That  is,  she  said  she  and  Martha 
might,  and  if  they  go  probably  some  of  the  others 
will  go  too." 

"Then  we  must  get  down  to  see  the  pictures  by 
all  means,"  answered  Jack.  "That  is,  if  the  storm 
lets  up.  If  it  keeps  on  raining  I  don't  think  any 
of  them  will  show  up." 

"Let's  go  in  for  a  little  gymnastic  work,"  cried 


IN  THE  GYMNASIUM  35 

Randy,  and  had  soon  shed  his  cap  and  his  coat. 
He  leaped  up  to  one  of  the  turning-bars,  and 
was  soon  busily  going  through  various  gymnastic 
evolutions.  His  twin  joined  him,  and  then  they 
did  a  little  team  work,  much  to  the  admiration 
of  some  of  the  others  present. 

"How  about  a  swing  from  one  bar  to  the  next?" 
called  out  Ned  Lowe.  Ned  was  known  as  the  chief 
singer  of  the  school  and  was  very  handy  with  a 
mandolin. 

"All  right,  Ned ;  I'll  swing  against  you,"  called 
Andy  quickly. 

"Not  much !"  was  Ned's  ready  reply.  "I  know 
you  can  beat  me.  See  what  you  can  do  against 
Walt  Baxter." 

Walt  Baxter  was  a  clean-cut  athletic  youth  who 
had  made  good  in  various  contests  in  the  gym 
nasium  and  on  the  baseball  and  football  field.  He 
was  the  son  of  Dan  Baxter,  who  at  one  time  had 
been  a  bitter  enemy  of  the  older  Rovers.  But 
the  senior  Baxter  had  reformed,  and  his  son  was 
well  liked  by  the  younger  Rovers. 

"All  right,  Walt,"  called  out  Andy.  "Do  you 
[want  to  swing  against  me  or  against  my  brother 
Randy?" 

"I'll  swing  against  both  of  you,"  answered 
i\Yalt  pleasantly. 

The  details  of  the  little  contest  were  quickly 


36  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

arranged,  and  it  was  decided  that  Randy  should 
make  the  first  swing,  Walt  the  second,  and  Andy 
should  come  last.  The  swing  was  to  consist  of 
a  flying  leap  from  one  bar  to  the  next,  and  then 
to  a  large  pad  spread  beyond  the  second  bar. 

"One  try  only  now,  remember!"  cried  Dan  Sop- 
pinger.  "Do  your  best,  everybody." 

It  did  not  take  Randy  long  to  get  into  position, 
and  then  he  made  a  swing  and  a  leap  which  were, 
gracefulness  itself.  He  landed  on  the  pad  lightly, 
but  quite  close  to  the  second  bar. 

"I'm  sure  I  can  do  better  than  that!"  cried 
Walt  Baxter;  and  in  less  than  a  minute  he  too 
had  made  the  swing,  landing  half  a  foot  beyond 
the  mark  set  by  Randy. 

Andy  eyed  the  distance  carefully,  and  then  pre 
pared  to  make  the  swing. 

"Here's  where  I  do  the  flying-fish  act !"  he  cried 
merrily. 

"What's  going  on  here?  A  contest?  Let  me 
see  it !"  came  a  voice  from  behind  the  crowd  that 
had  assembled  to  see  the  performance.  Then 
Henry  Stowell,  a  small  cadet  who  was  a  good 
deal  of  a  sneak,  pushed  his  way  to  the  front  of  the 
gathering. 

"Hi,  Codfish,  what  are  you  trying  to  do?"  ex 
claimed  Ned  Lowe,  who  had  been  elbowed  rather 
rudely  by  the  small  cadet. 


IN  THE  GYMNASIUM  37 

"I  want  to  see  what's  going  on,"  cried  Stowell. 

"All  right,  Codfish,  take  it  in  for  all  you're 
worth,"  called  out  Fatty  Hendry,  and  then  put 
out  his  foot  and  pushed  the  sneak  of  the  school 
forward. 

It  was  a  vigorous  shove,  and  in  order  to  keep 
himself  from  pitching  headlong  Henry  Stowell 
took  half  a  dozen  quick  steps  forward.  Andy 
was  just  in  the  act  of  launching  himself  from 
one  bar  to  the  next  when  Stowell' s  forward  move 
ment  carried  him  to  a  point  directly  between  the 
two  bars.  As  a  consequence  Andy's  feet  struck 
the  smaller  cadet  in  the  shoulder,  and  both  went 
down  in  a  heap  on  the  floor. 

"Stop!  Stop!  What  are  you  trying  to  do — 
kill  me?"  yelled  Stowell,  as  Andy  came  down  on 
top  of  him  in  anything  but  a  gentle  fashion. 

"I'd  like  to  know  what  you  are  trying  to  do, 
Codfish  ?"  demanded  Andy,  using  a  nickname  for 
Stowell  which  the  latter  abhorred. 

"I  didn't  do  a  thing!  Fatty  Hendry  tried  to 
trip  me  up." 

"And  you  shoved  your  way  in  where  you  had 
no  business  to  be,"  retorted  Fatty.  "Just  the 
same,  I'm  sorry  he  got  in  your  way,  Andy,"  he 
added. 

"Are  either  of  you  hurt?"  questioned  Jack 
quickly. 


38  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"He  spoiled  my  jump,"  answered  his  cousin. 

"And  he  kicked  me  in  the  shoulder  and  knocked 
me  down,"  whined  Stowell.  "I've  a  good  mind 
to  report  him." 

"What !  After  all  we  did  for  you  in  the  woods 
last  Winter?"  demanded  Fred.  They  had  found 
Stowell  with  Werner  and  Glutts  and  had  rescued 
the  little  cadet  from  the  bullies  and  seen  him 
safe  on  his  way  home. 

"I  don't  care!  My  shoulder  hurts  terribly," 
whined  Stowell. 

"Never  mind,  Codfish,  we'll  give  you  a  mus 
tard  plaster  to  put  on  it,"  cried  Ned  Lowe.  And 
then  in  some  confusion  the  sneak  of  Colby  Hall 
withdrew  from  the  crowd. 

"I  don't  suppose  you  feel  like  trying  the  swing 
now,"  remarked  Walt  Baxter  to  Andy.  "If  you 
want  to  call  it  off,  all  right." 

"Not  much!"  was  the  quick  reply.  "I  got 
pretty  well  shaken  up  by  hitting  Codfish,  but  just 
the  same,  I'm  going  to  make  the  swing."  And  a 
moment  later  Andy  did  so. 

"And  he  wins !"  declared  Dan  Soppinger,  after 
measurements  were  made.  "He's  a  good  six 
inches  ahead  of  anybody!" 

"Well,  some  time  we'll  try  it  again,  and  then 
maybe  I'll  be  able  to  do  better,"  remarked  Walt 
Baxter  good-naturedly. 


IN  THE  GYMNASIUM 


39 


"I'm  afraid  you've  made  Codfish  sore  on  us 
once  again,"  remarked  Jack  to  Andy,  after  the 
little  contest  had  come  to  an  end  and  the  cadets 
•were  breaking  up  into  various  groups. 

"If  he  is  going  to  get  sore  over  that  he  can  do 
it,"  retorted  Andy. 

"I  supposed  he  would  be  real  friendly  after  all 
;we  did  for  him  up  in  the  woods  last  Winter,"  re 
marked  Fred. 

"Well,  that  shows  what's  in  a  fellow  is  bound 
to  come  out  sooner  or  later,"  answered  Randy. 
"Codfish  always  was  a  poor  stick,  and  I  suppose 
he  always  will  be.  Just  the  same,  I  did  hope  he 
would  turn  over  a  new  leaf." 

When  the  cadets  awoke  on  Saturday  morning 
a  pleasurable  surprise  awaited  them.  The  storms 
of  the  weeks  previous  had  completely  passed,  and 
the  sun  was  shining  over  the  hills  most  gloriously. 

"Oh,  but  isn't  this  the  best  ever !"  cried  Randy, 
after  glancing  out  of  the  window. 

"It's  simply  scrumptious,"  retorted  his  twin; 
and  then  to  show  how  good  he  felt,  Andy  turned 
a  flip-flap  over  his  bed.  Then  he  caught  up  a 
pillow  and  threw  it  through  an  open  doorway  at 
Fred,  who  had  just  started  to  dress. 

"Hi,  you!  what's  this — a  bombardment  by  the 
[Huns?"  yelled  Fred,  and  promptly  returning  by 
Sending  a  sneaker  at  his  cousin.  But  the  foot- 


wear  struck  Randy,  who  promptly  returned  the 
missile  and  followed  it  up  with  a  book  and  a 
wadded-up  towel. 

"Hi,  you  fellows!  stop  the  rough-housing!" 
shouted  Jack.  "Do  you  want  to  be  reported?" 

"Who's  going  to  report  us — you?"  questioned 
Andy. 

"No.  But  some  monitor  will,  or  some  teacher. 
And  then  a  fat  chance  you'll  have  of  going  to 
Haven  Point  this  afternoon." 

"Oh,  that's  so.  We  don't  want  to  have  our 
off-time  cut  off,"  put  in  Randy  quickly.  "The 
war's  over,  the  armistice  is  signed,  and  everybody 
can  go  home  and  get  washed  up,"  he  added,  with 
a  grin. 

But  while  he  was  speaking  Andy  had  advanced 
upon  Fred,  and  now  the  two  started  to  wrestle. 
Jack  tried  to  stop  them  and  in  the  confusion  the 
three  upset  a  small  stand,  sending  a  dozen  or 
more  books  to  the  floor  with  a  thump.  Almost 
immediately  came  another  thump  on  one  of  the 
doors  leading  to  the  corridor. 

"Now  we've  done  it,"  whispered  Fred,  in  sud 
den  alarm. 

"Pick  up  those  books!  Quick!"  answered 
Andy,  and  got  down  on  his  knees  to  do  so  while 
Jack  righted  the  stand  which  had  held  the  vol 
umes.  At  the  same  time  Randy  leaped  to  pick 


IN  THE  GYMNASIUM  41 

up  the  pillows  and  otherwise  straighten  the  con 
necting  rooms  which  the  Rovers  occupied. 

"Ho,  you  fellows!  aren't  you  up  yet?"  came 
from  the  corridor  in  the  voice  of  Gif  Garrison. 
"Let  me  in.  I've  got  some  important  news  to  tell 
you." 

"Oh,  it's  only  Gif!"  murmured  the  twins  in 
relief. 

"He  said  he  had  important  news,"  put  in  Jack. 
"I  wonder  what  it  can  be." 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    RIVAL    SCHOOL 

ONE  of  the  doors  to  the  rooms  occupied  by  the 
Rovers  was  quickly  swung  open  and  Gif  Garri 
son  strode  in,  followed  by  Dick  Powell.  Gif  held 
a  morning  newspaper  in  his  hand,  one  which  had 
been  delivered  to  the  school  only  a  short  while 
before. 

"You  said  you  had  important  news,  Gif,"  said 
Jack.  "What  is  it?" 

"There  is  an  item  here  in  the  newspaper  Gif 
wants  to  show  you,"  put  in  Spouter.  "I  am  sure 
it  will  interest  every  one  of  us." 

"It's  not  much  of  an  item  so  far  as  size  goes," 
said  Gif.  "But  it  certainly  is  important — or  at 
least  it  may  be,  especially  to  you  Rovers — seeing 
that  none  of  us  has  ever  been  particularly  friendly 
with  Nappy  Martell  and  Slugger  Brown." 

"What !  have  you  news  of  those  two  rascals  ?" 
demanded  Randy. 

"Did  they  run  away  from  that  detention  camp 
in  the  South?"  broke  in  Fred. 

42 


THE  RIVAL  SCHOOL  43 

"They'd  be  fools  to  do  that,"  returned  Andy. 
"The  military  authorities  would  round  them  up 
in  no  time.  It's  no  easy  matter  to  keep  out  of 
the  clutches  of  Uncle  Sam  if  he  wants  you." 

"No,  they  haven't  run  away.  They  have  sim 
ply  been  given  their  freedom,"  answered  Gif. 
"Here — you  can  read  the  news  for  yourselves.'* 

The  item  he  referred  to  was  only  twelve  lines 
long  and  located  at  the  bottom  of  a  column  on  one 
of  the  inside  pages  of  the  newspaper.  It  was 
dated  from  a  well-known  detention  camp  in  the 
South,  and  gave  a  list  of  six  prisoners  who  had 
had  another  hearing  and  been  given  their  free 
dom.  Two  of  the  names  were  Napoleon  Martell 
and  Slogwell  Brown,  Jr. 

"Well,  they're  loose,  all  right  enough,"  was 
Andy's  comment,  after  they  had  perused  the  item. 
"I  wonder  what  they'll  do  ?" 

"One  thing  is  certain,  being  detained  that  way 
by  the  Government  will  certainly  prove  quite  a 
stigma,"  said  Jack.  "I  shouldn't  like  to  have  any 
thing  of  that  sort  against  me." 

"I  suppose  they'll  have  it  in  for  us,"  said 
Randy.  "They  always  loved  us  a  lot — I  don't 
think!" 

"Do  you  imagine  they  would  dare  show  them 
selves  around  here?"  questioned  Fred  quickly. 

"Why  not?"  queried  Spouter. 


44 


THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 


"I  don't  think  they'll  come  here,"  answered 
Jack.  "It's  too  slow  for  them  around  Haven 
Point.  You  know  how  sick  they  got  of  it  the 
last  time  they  were  here.  They'll  probably  head 
for  some  big  city,  where  they  can  have  a  good 
time  on  whatever  money  they  can  get  hold  of." 

Gif  and  Spouter  passed  on,  to  carry  the  news 
to  other  cadets  who  might  be  interested  in  it,  and 
the  Rovers  hurried  to  get  ready  for  roll-call  and 
breakfast.  While  they  were  finishing  their  dress 
ing  they  continued  to  discuss  the  news. 

"I  was  hoping  that  we  had  seen  and  heard  the 
last  of  Nappy  and  Slugger,"  said  Fred ;  "just  as 
I  was  hoping  that  we  had  seen  the  last  of  Wer 
ner  and  Glutts." 

"They  are  like  bad  pennies — ready  to  turn  up 
when  you  least  expect  it,"  said  Andy.  "Just  the 
same,  they  had  better  keep  out  of  my  way  if  they 
don't  want  to  get  into  trouble,"  he  continued,  his 
eyes  flashing. 

During  the  morning  the  boys  had  to  attend  a 
drill  and  then  prepare  a  number  of  their  lessons 
for  the  following  week.  But  directly  after  lunch 
they  had  the  time  to  themselves,  and  the  fourj 
Rovers  hurried  off  to  town,  and  Gif  and  Spouter 
went  with  them. 

As  has  been  mentioned  before,  Haven  Point 
possessed  a  first-class  motion  picture  theater,  run 


THE  RIVAL  SCHOOL  45 

by  a  man  named  Felix  Falstein,  who  on  more  than 
one  occasion  had  shown  his  friendship  for  the 
cadets.  Jack  and  Fred  had  communicated  with 
their  sisters,  and  Martha  and  Mary  had  agreed 
to  meet  them  at  a  certain  hour  at  the  theater  en 
trance. 

"Not  here  yet,"  said  Jack,  when  the  crowd  ar 
rived. 

"You  can't  expect  girls  to  be  on  hand  always," 
said  Andy  gaily.  "You've  got  to  give  'em  a 
chance  to  get  the  hair-buns  over  their  ears." 

"And  fourteen  hooks  hooked  up  on  the  shoul 
der  where  you  can't  reach  'em,"  added  his  twin, 
grinning. 

"Here  they  come  now !"  interrupted  Fred.  "Do 
you  want  me  to  tell  them  about  the  hooks  and 
the  hair-buns  ?"  he  added  slyly. 

"You  say  a  word,  Fred,  and  you'll  be  killed  in 
cold  blood !"  retorted  Andy,  while  Randy  shook  a 
playful  fist  at  his  cousin. 

In  the  crowd  of  girls  coming  around  the  corner 
of  the  street  were  not  only  the  two  Rovers  and 
May  Powell,  the  cousin  of  Spouter,  but  also  Ruth 
Stevenson,  Annie  Larkins,  and  Alice  Strobell. 

"Have  we  been  keeping  you  long?"  questioned 
Martha  Rover,  as  she  came  up  to  her  brother. 

"Only  a  couple  of  minutes,  Martha,"  answered 
Jack. 


46  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"We  haven't  even  had  a  chance  to  read  the  bill-! 
boards,"  put  in  Andy. 

"I  was  so  glad  to  see  it  clear  off,"  remarked 
Ruth  Stevenson,  as  she  quite  naturally  paired  off 
with  Jack,  while  May  Powell  turned  to  talk  to 
Fred.  And  then  she  added,  as  she  gazed  admir 
ingly  at  the  young  captain  in  his  neat-fitting  uni 
form  :  "I  understand  you  and  your  cousins  have 
been  doing  the  hero  act  again." 

"Who  told  you  that?"  questioned  Jack  quickly. 

"Never  mind  who  told  me.  We've  heard  all 
about  how  you  rescued  a  man  and  his  son  from 
the  Rick  Rack  River.  Oh,  Jack !  it  was  a  grand 
thing  to  do." 

"But  who  told  you,  Ruth?" 

"It  was  Mr.  Franklin  himself,  if  you  want  to 
know  it." 

"Where  in  the  world  did  you  meet  Mr.  Frank 
lin?" 

"Why,  he  works  up  at  Bossard's  lumber  camp, 
and  Bossard  supplies  our  school  with  cordwood. 
Mr.  Franklin  and  his  son  brought  down  a  load  of 
wood,  and  he  told  someone  how  the  Rovers  had 
come  to  their  rescue.  Then  those  folks  pointed 
Martha  and  Mary  out  to  them,  and  as  we  hap 
pened  to  be  with  your  sister  and  your  cousin  at 
the  time  we  heard  the  whole  story.  Mr.  Frank- 
En  said  it  was  a  very  brave  thing  to  do,  and  he 


THE  RIVAL  SCHOOL  r^ 

was  awfully  sorry  that  he  couldn't  offer  you  some 
reward — not  but  what  I  am  sure,  Jack,  you 
wouldn't  accept  it,"  the  girl  continued  quickly. 

By  this  time  all  the  boys  and  girls  had  paired 
off  and  soon  the  cadets  had  purchased  tickets  and 
all  entered  the  showhouse.  They  found  seats  to 
gether,  and  sat  down  to  enjoy  themselves.  A 
comic  picture  was  being  thrown  on  the  screen, 
and  at  this  the  young  folks  laughed  so  heartily 
that  it  put  all  of  them  in  the  best  of  humor.  Then 
came  a  slight  intermission,  and  they  had  a  chance 
to  talk  over  their  personal  matters. 

"I  heard  something  a  few  days  ago  that  in 
terested  me  quite  a  good  deal,  Jack,"  said  Ruth. 
"It  was  from  that  new  school  at  Darryville,  the 
Longley  Academy." 

The  girl  referred  to  a  school  which  had  been 
opened  the  Fall  previous.  It  was  supposed  to  be 
something  of  a  physical  culture  academy  where 
as  much  attention  was  paid  to  athletics  as  to  men 
tal  studies.  The  school  had  been  inaugurated  too 
late  to  do  anything  in  football,  but  had  given  out 
that  they  would  be  in  the  baseball  field  the  fol 
lowing  Spring. 

"What  did  you  hear  about  Longley,  Ruth  ?" 

"Why,  there  is  a  boy  there  I  used  to  know 
quite  well,  Tommy  Flanders.  He  says  they  have 
organized  a  first-class  baseball  club,  and  that  they 


48  I?»£  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

are  going  to  put  it  all  over  Colby  Hall — those  are 
his  exact  words." 

"Humph!  that  remains  to  be  seen,  Ruth." 
"Have  you  received  a  challenge  from  them?*' 
"Not  yet.     But  Gif  Garrison  is  expecting  one 
every  day.    We  heard  something  of  the  talk.    Do 
you  know  if  this  Tommy  Flanders  is  much  of  a 
player  ?" 

"He  used  to  be  considered  quite  a  pitcher.  In 
fact,  he  was  so  good  as  a  boy  pitcher  that  some  of 
the  local  fans  wanted  him  to  sign  up  in  one  of 
the  minor  leagues.  But  of  course  they  wouldn't 
let  him  do  that  because  he  was  too  young  to  leave 
school." 

"That  certainly  sounds  interesting,  especially  if 
this  Flanders  pitches  for  Longley." 

"Tommy  told  me  that  they  had  not  less  than 
a  dozen  first-class  baseball  players  at  their  acad 
emy.  He  boasted  that  they  would  wipe  up  the 
diamond  with  your  school — I  am  now  quoting 
his  words." 

"Evidently  Tommy  knows  how  to  blow." 
"Oh,  but,  Jack,  he  really  is  a  first-class  player. 
And  you  must  remember  that  they  have  advertised 
Longley  Academy  as  given  over  especially  to  ath 
letics  and  gymnastics.  Probably  they'll  pay  more 
attention  to  baseball  and  football  than  they  will 
to  their  studies." 


THE  RIVAL  SCHOOL  49 

"Well,  if  we  get  beaten  we'll  get  beaten,  Ruth, 
that's  all.  We'll  do  our  best." 

"And  I  certainly  hope  you  win,  Jack,"  said  the 
girl,  giving  him  a  warm  glance.  "I  would  like  to 
see  you  take  some  of  the  conceit  out  of  Tommy 
Flanders." 

After  the  performance  was  over  the  young 
folks  adjourned  to  a  nearby  ice-cream  parlor 
where  they  indulged  in  that  dainty  to  their  hearts' 
content.  While  eating  their  cream  and  munch 
ing  the  cake  they  had  ordered  with  it,  Jack  men 
tioned  what  Ruth  had  told  him  regarding  the 
boys  at  the  new  rival  school. 

"Yes,  they  said  they  were  going  to  send  a 
challenge  soon,"  said  Gif.  "And  I've  been  warned 
by  others  that  they  intend  to  put  a  first-class  nine 
on  the  diamond  to  beat  us." 

"Then  it  will  be  up  to  you,  Gif,  to  show  them 
what  Colby  Hall  can  do,"  said  Spouter.  He 
himself  was  not  much  of  a  ball  player,  although  he 
had  been  on  the  nine  occasionally. 

The  young  people  had  almost  finished  their  ice 
cream  and  cake  when  they  saw  two  girls  and  two 
boys  come  in.  As  they  entered  Ruth  clutched 
Jack  by  the  arm. 

"There  is  Tommy  Flanders  now!"  she  whis 
pered,  pointing  to  the  larger  of  the  two  youths. 

Tommy  Flanders  showed  that  he  was  a  good 


50  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

deal  of  a  sport.  He  was  dressed  in  a  loud-looking1 
suit,  had  pointed  shoes,  and  he  wore  a  cap  set  well 
back  on  his  head.  His  face  was  rather  red,  and 
his  forehead  was  overshadowed  by  a  heavy  mop 
of  reddish-brown  hair. 

"Hello,  Ruth!  How  are  you?"  he  called  out 
pleasantly,  when  still  at  a  distance.  "Glad  to  see 
you,"  and  he  smiled  at  all  of  the  girls  and  bowed. 

After  this  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  intro 
duce  the  newcomer,  and  he  promptly  introduced 
the  two  girls,  who  proved  to  be  residents  of 
Haven  Point,  and  then  introduced  his  friend, 
Pete  Stevens. 

"Pete  is  going  to  be  my  backstop  on  our  nine," 
explained  Tommy  Flanders.  "You  know,  I  sup 
pose,  that  I  am  the  pitcher,"  he  added  in  an  off 
hand  manner. 

"And  he's  one  wonder  pitcher,  believe  me!" 
piped  in  Pete  Stevens.  He  was  a  stocky  youth 
with  small  ferret-like  eyes. 

"I  understand  you're  going  to  have  quite  a 
nine,"  remarked  Jack  politely. 

"Say,  it  will  be  the  finest  baseball  aggregation 
this  part  of  the  country  has  ever  seen — that  is, 
for  a  school  nine,"  boasted  Tommy  Flanders. 
"You  know,  our  school  is  long  on  athletics.  We 
intend  to  put  it  over  everything  within  traveling 
distance." 


THE  RIVAL  SCHOOL  51 

'That  is,  provided  the  other  schools  are  not 
too  scared  to  accept  our  challenges,"  added  Pete 
Stevens. 

"You  won't  find  Colby  Hall  afraid  to  accept 
any  reasonable  challenge,"  retorted  Gif,  some 
what  disgusted  with  the  boasting  manner  of  the 
newcomers. 

"We've  waxed  a  few  schools  around  here,  and 
maybe  we  can  take  a  round  out  of  Longley  Acad 
emy,"  Fred  could  not  help  but  add. 

"You'll  never  take  a  round  out  of  Longley, 
believe  me,"  sneered  Pete  Stevens.  "We'll  put 
it  all  over  you  fellows  just  as  sure  as  you're  born." 

"Well,  we'll  see,"  remarked  Jack,  and  his  face 
ishowed  that  he  did  not  admire  having  this  dis 
cussion  before  the  girls. 

"Say,  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,  Rover,"  said 
Tommy  Flanders,  advancing  close  to  the  young 
captain.  "I'll  bet  you  ten  dollars  that  we  win  the 
first  game  of  ball  we  play  with  you." 

"You'll  have  to  excuse  me,  Flanders,  but  I'm 
not  betting,"  answered  Jack. 

"Afraid,  are  you?" 

"I  said  I  was  not  betting.  And  now  if  you'll 
excuse  us,  we'll  finish  our  ice  cream  and  cake," 
added  the  young  captain  coldly. 

"Oh,  well,  if  you're  afraid  to  bet,  we'll  let  it 
go  at  that,"  responded  Tommy  Flanders  care- 


52    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

lessly.  Then  he  and  his  companion  and  the  girls 
with  them  moved  off  to  a  table  in  the  rear  of  the 
ice-cream  parlor. 

"Of  all  the  conceited  fools "  began  Andy, 

when  Jack  caught  him  by  the  arm. 

"Drop  it,  Andy,"  and  Jack  looked  at  his  cousin 
and  then  at  the  girls,  all  of  whom  had  been  much 
disturbed  over  the  possibility  of  a  quarrel. 

"Oh,  sure,  let's  drop  it,"  was  Andy's  quick 
answer.  And  then  to  change  the  subject  he  be 
gan  a  funny  story  and  soon  he  had  the  girls 
shrieking  with  laughter.  Then  they  finished  their 
ice  cream  and  cake  and  left  the  place. 

"Oh,  Jack,  if  you  do  play  them  I  hope  you  beat 
them  good,"  said  Ruth,  when  the  girls  and  the 
cadets  were  ready  to  separate. 

"We'll  do  our  best,"  was  his  reply. 

"I  hope  when  that  match  comes  off  we'll  be 
able  to  see  it,"  said  Martha. 

"Of  course  you'll  all  have  to  be  on  hand,"  an 
swered  her  brother  quickly.  "We'll  want  you 
girls  to  encourage  us." 

"I  want  to  see  you  beat  Longley  Academy," 
declared  Mary. 

"So  say  we  all  of  us !"  came  in  a  chorus  from 
the  others. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PLAYING     HIXLEY    HIGH 

"Now  for  some  real  baseball  practice,  boys!'* 

"Right  you  are,  Jack !  I'm  mighty  glad  it  has 
cleared  off  at  last." 

"If  we  are  going  to  have  our  annual  game  with 
Hixley  High  two  weeks  from  to-day  we  had 
better  get  busy,"  put  in  Gif  Garrison.  "I  had  no 
idea  they  would  ask  for  a  match  so  early  in  the 
season." 

"It's  on  account  of  the  game  they  expect  to 
have  this  year  with  Longley  Academy,"  remarked 
,Walt  Baxter.  "You  see,  they  are  to  play  the 
new  school  too." 

"Yes,  and  I  heard  that  those  Longley  fellows 
were  boasting  they  were  going  to  do  up  Hixley, 
just  the  same  as  they  were  going  to  do  us  up." 

"Gee,  but  that  Tommy  Flanders  makes  me 
sick!"  broke  in  Fred.  "I  really  think  he's  the 
most  conceited  fellow  I  ever  met." 

"Just  the  same,  I've  heard  he's  a  pretty  good 
player,"  remarked  Gif.  "He  is  not  only  a  good 

53 


54    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

pitcher,  but  quite  a  good  batsman.  And  they  say 
that  his  crony  is  also  quite  a  good  all-around 
player." 

The  regular  nine,  minus  two  players  who  had 
left  the  school  the  term  previous,  were  out  on 
the  diamond  practicing.  A  little  later,  with  two 
substitutes,  they  were  to  play  a  match  of  five 
innings  against  a  scrub  team  picked  from  the  most 
available  of  the  ball  players  left. 

Jack  Rover  was  in  the  box  and  was  putting 
some  swift  ones  over  the  plate.  As  yet  he  did 
not  have  perfect  control  of  the  horsehide,  and 
as  a  consequence  it  occasionally  went  over  the 
catcher's  head. 

Three  games  of  baseball  had  been  arranged 
for  Colby  Hall,  one  with  Hixley  High,  another 
with  Columbus  Academy,  and  a  third  with  Long- 
ley.  They  were  to  take  place  in  the  order  named 
and  at  intervals  of  one  week. 

The  practice  soon  came  to  an  end,  and  then; 
the  five-innings  game  with  the  scrubs  started. 
This  proved  to  be  quite  a  contest,  and  Fred  Rover 
distinguished  himself  by  knocking  a  three-bagger, 
while  Jack  struck  out  six  batsmen,  much  to  his 
satisfaction.  When  the  contest  came  to  a  close 
the  regular  nine  had  won  by  a  score  of  n  to  3. 

"Well,  that  shows  the  old  nine  is  still  in  the 
running,"  remarked  Dan  Soppinger,  when  the 


PLAYING  HJXLEY  HIGH  55 

boys  were  rushing  to  the  gymnasium  to  get  under 
the  showers. 

"Right  you  are,  Dan/'  answered  Jack.  "Just 
the  same,  that  scrub  team  isn't  Hixley  High,  or 
Columbus  or  Longley,  either,  please  don't  forget 
that." 

"Oh,  I  know  that  just  as  well  as  you  do,  Jack. 
[We've  got  to  play  much  better  than  we  did  to 
day  if  we  expect  any  victories  in  the  regular 
games." 

"Don't  forget  that  we'll  be  up  against  Dink 
[Wilsey  again,"  said  Gif. 

"I  don't  believe  that  any  of  us  are  likely  to 
'forget  it,"  grinned  Dan.  All  remembered  Dink 
.Wilsey  very  well.  He  was  the  pitcher  for  Hix 
ley  High  and  a  fellow  who  was  destined  to  be 
come  talked  about  in  baseball  circles.  He  had  a 
puzzling  delivery,  and  sometimes  struck  out  even 
the  best  of  the  batsmen  with  ease. 

From  that  day  forth  Jack  and  the  other  mem 
bers  of  the  ball  team  put  in  every  spare  moment 
at  practice.  Gradually  the  young  pitcher  ob 
tained  better  control  of  the  sphere,  and  then  he 
did  what  he  could  to  increase  his  speed  and  make 
his  curves  more  puzzling. 

The  contest  with  Hixley  High  was  to  take 
place  on  the  latter' s  grounds,  and  almost  all  the 
pupils  at  Colby  Hall  made  the  journey  to  see  the 


56  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

game.  Many  girls  were  also  present  from  Clear- 
water  Hall  and  from  the  town. 

"Oh,  Jack,  I  hope  you  win!"  said  Ruth  Stev 
enson,  as  he  strode  forward  to  greet  her  and  the 
others  who  had  arrived  from  the  girls'  school. 

"We're  going  to  do  our  best,  Ruth,"  answered 
the  young  pitcher.  And  then,  as  he  noticed  some 
thing  of  a  cloud  on  her  face,  he  added  jokingly : 
"You  don't  have  to  look  so  glum  about  it." 

"I'm  not  glum  over  the  game,  Jack.  I  was 
thinking  of  something  else,"  she  answered  sob 
erly. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter,  Ruth — has  anything 
gone  wrong?" 

"Yes,  Jack.  But — but  maybe  I'd  better  not 
tell  you  anything  about  it,"  she  faltered. 

"Has  anybody  been  annoying  you?" 

"I  can't  tell  you  now — I'll  tell  you  after  the 
game  if  I  get  a  chance,"  whispered  Ruth,  as 
several  of  the  other  boys  and  girls  came  closer. 

At  that  moment  came  a  blare  of  tin  horns  and 
the  noise  of  many  rattles,  and  then  the  Hixley 
High  boys  let  out  a  wild  yelling: 

"Hixley  High!  Hixley  High!  Hixley  High 
forever  P*  and  this  was  repeated  over  and  over 
again, 

"Wake  up,  fellows !"  came  suddenly  in  a  bellow 
from  Ned  Lowe.  "Everybody  wake  up  for  Colby 


PLAYING  HIXLEY  HIGH  57 

Hall !"     And  then  there  boomed  out  this  refrain : 

"Who  are  we  ? 
Can't  you  see  ? 
Colby  Hall ! 

Dum !  Dum !  Dum,  dum,  dum ! 
Here  we  come  with  fife  and  drum! 
Colby!   Colby!   Colby  Hall!" 

"That's  the  stuff !  Give  it  to  'em  again !"  yelled 
Fatty  Hendry,  wiping  the  perspiration  from  his 
forehead,  and  once  more  the  school  refrain 
boomed  forth. 

"Oh,  isn't  that  grand !"  remarked  Mary  Rover. 

"The  best  ever !"  answered  her  cousin  Martha. 

"It  makes  me  feel  just  as  if  I  was  being  raised 
off  my  feet,"  remarked  May  Powell. 

The  game  began  with  Hixley  High  at  the  bat. 
There  was  a  wild  cheering  for  Rigby,  the  center- 
fielder,  when  he  came  up,  stick  in  hand,  and  also 
yells  of  encouragement  for  Jack. 

"Put  him  out  in  one-two-three  order,  Jack !" 

"Don't  let  him  get  a  smell  at  first !" 

"Knock  the  cover  off  it,  Rigby!  Make  a 
homer!" 

After  two  strikes,  one  of  them  a  foul,  Rigby 
managed  to  get  a  safe  hit  to  first.  But  then 
Jack  tightened  up  and  presently  the  side  was  re 
tired  without  a  run. 


58  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

'That's  the  stuff !  Hold  'em  to  goose  eggs  all 
the  way  through !" 

"Now,  then,  Colby,  go  to  it  and  make  a 
couple !" 

But  alas  for  this  hope !  One  player  got  as  far 
as  third,  but  there  the  inning  ended. 

Goose  eggs  also  went  up  for  both  sides  in  the 
second,  third  and  fourth  innings.  Then  two  play 
ers  of  Hixley  High  managed  to  make  singles, 
and  on  a  fumble  by  one  of  the  new  men  playing 
for  Colby  one  of  these  hits  was  turned  into  a 
run. 

"Hurrah !  Hurrah !  That's  the  stuff !  Score 
one  for  Hixley!" 

"Hold 'em  down !  Hold 'em  down!  Don't  let 
'em  score  again !"  came  from  the  Colby  Hall  sup 
porters.  And  the  players  from  the  military 
school  did  "hold  'em  down"  to  the  single  tally, 
which  had  been  made. 

With  the  score  I  to  o,  the  game  ran  along  to 
the  eighth  inning.  Then  Dan  Soppinger  man 
aged  to  knock  out  a  two-bagger,  and  he  was  fol 
lowed  at  the  plate  by  Randy.  Two  men  were 
already  out,  so  it  was  a  crucial  moment  in  more 
ways  than  one. 

Dink  Wilsey  was  still  in  good  form,  although 
the  strain  was  evidently  telling  upon  him.  He 
sent  in  two  swift  balls,  which  were  called  strikes, 


PLAYING  HIXLEY  HIGH  59 

one  being  a  foul.  Then  came  two  wide  ones, 
which  were  put  down  as  balls  by  the  umpire. 

"Hit  it,  Randy !"  sang  out  Gif.  "Paste  it  for 
all  you  know  how !" 

Randy  was  on  the  alert,  and  although  the  next 
ball  pitched  was  a  bit  low,  he  swung  for  it,  send 
ing  it  down  toward  right  field. 

"Run,  Dan!     Run!" 

"Legit,  Randy!" 

And  both  players  did  run  for  all  they  were 
•worth.  Dan  had  started  as  Randy  swung  for 
the  sphere,  and  consequently  touched  third  a  few 
seconds  later.  Then,  as  he  saw  the  ball  was  still 
down  in  right  field  with  the  fielder  chasing  madly 
after  it,  he  came  in  to  the  home  plate.  Randy 
had  meanwhile  reached  first  and  was  halfway  to 
second,  which  he  reached  safely  by  sliding. 

"Hurrah !     One  run  for  Colby  Hall !" 

"And  Randy  Rover  made  it  a  two-bagger !" 

"Some  playing,  I'll  say!" 

The  excitement  was  now  intense  as  Colby  Hall 
saw  a  chance  to  win.  But  this  chance  went  glim 
mering  a  few  seconds  later  when  a  pop-fly  was 
gathered  in  with  ease  by  the  Hixley  pitcher. 

"Never  mind,  we've  tied  the  score,  and  that's 
something,"  said  Gif.  "Now  all  we  need  do  is 
to  hold  them  down  and  make  one  more  run." 

In  the  ninth  inning  Hixley  High  fought  des~ 


60  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

perately  to  score,  and  Colby  Hall  did  the  same. 
But  neither  side  got  further  than  first. 

"A  tie  game !     A  tie  game !"  was  the  cry. 

"Now,  then,  it  takes  only  one  run  to  win!" 

The  excitement  was  now  at  a  fever  heat,  and 
this  continued  through  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
innings.  By  this  time  it  was  growing  dark,  so 
that  the  fielders  had  difficulty  in  seeing  the  ball.. 

"I  think  we  had  better  call  it  a  tie  and  let  it 
go  at  that,"  said  the  Hixley  captain  to  Gif. 
.  "What  do  you  think  about  it?" 

There  was  a  brief  consultation,  and  several  of 
the  regular  school  coaches  were  called  in.  In 
the  meanwhile  it  grew  darker  rapidly,  and  pres 
ently  the  contest  was  called  off. 

"It's  too  bad  we  couldn't  finish  it,"  remarked 
Jack,  as  he  shook  hands  with  Dink  Wilsey. 

"We'll  have  to  finish  it  next  year,"  said  the 
rival  pitcher,  with  a  grin. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  talk  about  the  con 
test,  but  gradually  the  crowd  dispersed,  and  many 
of  the  Colby  boys  started  for  the  Hall.  The 
Rovers  and  some  of  their  chums  rejoined  the 
1  girls,  and  walked  with  them  to  the  automobiles 
which  were  to  take  Martha  and  Mary  and  the 
others  back  to  Clearwater  Hall. 

"I'm  so  sorry  you  fellows  didn't  win  that 
game,"  pouted  May  Powell,  on  the  way. 


PLAYING  HIXLEY  HIGH  6l 

"Well,  we  did  our  best,"  answered  Fred.  "And 
believe  me,  it's  something  to  hold  down  a  school 
like  Hixley  with  such  a  pitcher  as  Dink  Wil- 
sey." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  he  can  pitch  any  better 
than  Jack!"  put  in  Ruth  quickly. 

"Oh,  I'm  not  saying  anything  against  Jack," 
answered  Fred.  "Just  the  same,  Dink's  a  great 
pitcher,  and  Jack  will  say  so  himself." 

"He  certainly  is,"  was  the  reply  from  the  oldest 
Rover  boy.  "He'll  be  on  one  of  the  professional 
teams  one  of  these  days.  If  Longley  Academy 
has  any  such  pitcher  in  Tommy  Flanders,  we've 
got  our  work  cut  out  for  us." 

Most  of  the  boys  and  girls  went  on  to  where 
the  automobiles  were  in  waiting,  but  Jack  kept  to 
the  rear  until  the  whole  crowd  were  out  of 
hearing. 

"Now,  then,  Ruth,  tell  me  what  is  troubling 
you,"  he  said  in  a  low  voice. 

"Oh,  Jack,  I  don't  believe  I  ought  to  tell  you ! 
I  should  have  torn  it  up  and  forgotten  all  about 
it,"  returned  the  girl. 

"Torn  it  up?  What  do  you  mean?  Was  it  a 
letter?" 

"Yes,  a  letter  that  came  yesterday.  It  is  noth 
ing  but  a  scrawl,  and  it's  unsigned.  It  was  sent 
from  New  York." 


62    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"What  did  the  letter  say?  Did  somebody 
threaten  you,  Ruth?" 

"No,  Jack.  Somebody  threatened  you.  If  it 
hadn't  been  for  that,  I  wouldn't  think  of  bothering 
you  about  it/' 

"Humph !  this  is  interesting.  Have  you  got  the 
letter  with  you?" 

"Yes.  Here  it  is,"  and  the  girl  brought  forth 
the  letter  from  her  handbag.  As  she  had  said,  it 
was  postmarked  New  York  City,  and  was  ad 
dressed  to  her  at  the  school.  The  envelope  was 
a  plain  one,  and  inside  was  a  single  sheet  of  plain 
white  paper.  On  this,  evidently  in  a  disguised 
hand,  had  been  scrawled  the  following : 

"RUTH  STEVENSON:  If  you  know  when  you 
are  well  off  you  won't  have  much  to  do  with  Jack 
Rover  or  his  cousins.  They  are  a  bum  lot  and 
some  day  you  will  be  ashamed  of  every  one  of 
them.  Jack  Rover  never  treated  anybody  square, 
and  some  day  you  can  take  it  from  me  that  I  in 
tend  to  pound  his  handsome  face  into  a  jelly. 
Better  listen  to  my  warning,  or  you  will  be  very 
sorry  you  had  anything  to  do  with  that  crowd. 

"A  FRIEND." 


CHAPTER   VII 

i 

NEWS   FROM   ABROAD 

"THAT'S  a  fine  letter,  I  must  say!"  remarked 
Jack,  after  perusing  the  scrawl  a  second  time. 
"Evidently  the  writer  loves  me  a  whole  lot." 

"Of  course  it  must  have  come  from  one  of 
those  fellows  who  used  to  go  to  school  with 
you,"  said  Ruth.  "Perhaps  that  Martell  boy  or 
that  Brown  boy." 

"I  don't  think  Nappy  Martell  would  dare  send 
such  a  letter,"  answered  the  young  captain  of 
the  cadets.  "It  would  be  more  like  Slugger 
Brown  to  do  it.  But  you  must  remember  that 
those  fellows  have  just  been  released  from  that 
detention  camp."  Jack  mused  for  a  moment. 
"This  looks  more  like  the  work  of  Gabe  Werner 
to  me." 

"Oh,  Jack !  suppose  he  should  attack  you  some 
time  when  you  weren't  aware?" 

"That's  a  risk  a  fellow  has  to  run.  Of  course, 
I  expect  to  keep  on  my  guard,  not  only  against 
Gabe  Werner  but  also  against  Martell,  Brown 

63 


64    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

and  Glutts.  The  whole  four  don't  like  any  of 
our  crowd." 

"But  just  read  the  dreadful  thing  he  says," 
continued  the  girl,  as  she  caught  Jack  tightly  by 
the  arm.  "He  says  he'll  pound  your  face  into  a 
jelly!  Oh,  Jack!  don't  you  ever  give  him  a 
chance  to  do  that,"  and  Ruth's  face  showed  her 
solicitude. 

"There  is  one  thing  you  have  to  remember, 
Ruth,  and  that  is  the  writer  of  an  anonymous 
letter  is  generally  a  coward,"  Jack  answered  as 
lightly  as  he  could,  more  to  ease  her  feelings  than 
anything  else.  "So  don't  you  worry  about  this 
letter.  Have  you  mentioned  it  to  any  of  the 
others?" 

"No;  I  didn't  want  to  worry  them." 

"I'm  glad  you  didn't  say  anything  to  Martha 
and  Mary.  I  know  it  would  upset  them  a  good 
deal,  and  maybe  they  would  think  they'd  have  to 
write  to  their  mothers  about  it.  Just  keep  it  to 
yourself.  And  please  don't  destroy  that  letter;  it 
might  come  in  useful  some  time.  Maybe  we  can 
trace  the  handwriting." 

"But  you'll  tell  your  cousins  at  the  Hall,  won't 
you?" 

"Yes ;  I  think  I  had  better,  so  that  they  can  be 
on  their  guard,  too.  We  don't  want  to  run  any 
unnecessary  chances  when  it  comes  to  those  ras- 


NEWS  FROM  ABROAD  65 

cals."     And  there  the  talk  on  this  subject  came 
to  an  end. 

It  was  not  until  late  that  evening,  when  the 
four  Rovers  were  retiring,  that  Jack  got  a  chance 
to  mention  the  anonymous  letter  to  his  cousins. 
All  were  tremendously  interested,  and  speculated 
on  who  the  writer  could  be. 

"My  opinion  is  it  was  either  Gabe  Werner  or 
Slugger  Brown,"  said  Randy.  "Neither  Nappy 
Martell  nor  Bill  Glutts  would  have  the  nerve  to 
do  it." 

"I'll  side  with  Jack  and  say  it  was  Werner," 
said  Fred. 

"And  I'll  side  with  my  brother  and  say  it  was 
either  Slugger  or  Werner,"  added  Andy. 

Two  days  later  came  word  which  filled  the 
Rover  boys  with  joy.  It  was  announced  that,  as 
the  war  in  Europe  was  at  an  end,  Colonel  Colby 
might  be  expected  home  any  day. 

"Hurrah!  that  means  that  our  folks  will  be 
coming  home  too  before  long!"  cried  Fred, 
throwing  up  his  cap.  "Isn't  this  the  best  ever!" 
"Maybe  we'll  get  word  from  our  fathers  in  a 
day  or  two,"  returned  Andy.  "Anyway,  I  hope 
so." 

"My!  what  a  grand  old  time  we  ought  to  have 
when  they  do  get  home,"  said  Randy,  his  eyes 
glistening. 


66    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"We'll  tear  the  woodpile  down !"  announced  his 
twin,  and  then  turned  a  handspring  just  to  ease 
his  feelings. 

The  talk  among  the  cadets  at  the  Hall  was 
now  divided  between  the  return  of  Colonel  Colby 
and  the  baseball  game  with  Columbus  Academy. 
In  the  meantime  Hixley  High  played  a  game  with 
Longley  Academy  and  lost  by  a  score  of  3  to  7. 

"Gee !  that  doesn't  look  good  to  me,"  announced 
Gif  soberly,  when  the  news  came  in.  "All  we 
could  do  this  year  was  to  hold  them  to  that  tie." 

"That  score  would  seem  to  prove  that  the  Long- 
ley  nine  is  just  about  twice  as  good  as  the  Hix 
ley  nine,"  remarked  Dan. 

"I  see  by  the  score  that  Tommy  Flanders  struck 
out  nine  men.  He  certainly  must  have  been  go 
ing1  some,"  came  from  Fred,  who  was  studying 
the  score  sheet  with  interest. 

"Yes,  and  the  Longley  fellows  made  two  home- 
runs  and  three  two-baggers,"  put  in  Spouter.  "I 
must  say  they  didn't  do  a  thing  to  Hixley  High 
but  punch  holes  into  them." 

"We've  certainly  got  our  work  cut  out  for  us," 
announced  Jack,  and  then  went  to  practicing 
harder  than  ever. 

But  if  the  score  between  Longley  and  Hixley 
had  been  a  disappointment  to  the  Colby  Hall 
team,  there  was  quite  a  little  comfort  for  them  in 


NEWS  FROM  ABROAD  67 

the  game  with  Columbus  Academy.  The  Colum 
bus  boys  did  their  level  best  to  win,  and  yet  when 
the  game  came  to  an  end  Colby  Hall  was  the 
victor  by  a  score  of  8  to  3. 

"Well,  that  shows  we  are  still  in  the  running!" 
cried  Gif  that  evening.  "Those  Columbus  fel 
lows  certainly  put  up  a  stiff  game." 

"They  certainly  did !"  answered  Randy.  "Their 
pitcher  wasn't  such  a  wonder,  but  their  fielding 
was  certainly  great  and  they  have  some  very  good 
batsmen." 

"Yes,  and  their  shortstop  is  as  good  as  you  can 
find  them,"  added  Spouter. 

"I've  got  one  complaint  to  make  about  that 
game,"  said  Ralph  Mason,  who  was  the  major  of 
the  school  battalion.  "I  don't  know  whether  I 
ought  to  speak  to  you  fellows  about  it  or  to 
Captain  Dale." 

"What  is  that,  Major?"  questioned  Gif  quickly. 

"It  has  to  do  with  little  Henry  Stowell,"  an 
swered  the  young  major  seriously. 

"Oh,  I  think  I  know  what  you  mean!"  cried 
Ned  Lowe.  "Isn't  it  the  way  in  which  he  was 
talking  to  some  of  those  Columbus  players?" 

"It  is,"  was  Ralph  Mason's  reply.  "Then  you 
heard  it  too,  did  you?" 

"I  heard  a  little.  I  hoped  to  hear  more,  but 
just  then  somebody  came  up  and  took  me  away." 


68    THE  ROPER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"If  it  was  about  the  ball  game,  Major,  I  think 
I  ought  to  know  of  it,"  said  Gif. 

"The  trouble  is,  Gif,  I  don't  really  know 
whether  Stowell  meant  anything  by  it  or  not — or 
rather  if  he  understood  what  he  was  doing.  He 
is  so  very  innocent  in  some  things  I  hate  to  accuse 
him  of  actual  wrong-doing.  But  one  thing  is 
certain:  Those  Columbus  Academy  fellows 
pumped  him  as  much  as  they  could  about  our 
players,  and  especially  about  Jack  Rover's  style 
of  pitching.  And  they  also  asked  a  great  number 
of  questions  about  the  two  new  players  on  the 
nine." 

"Codfish  is  a  sneak,  and  always  was!"  burst 
out  Dan  Soppinger.  "Oh,  I  know  you  fellows 
feel  inclined  to  stick  up  for  him,"  he  added,  look 
ing  at  the  Rovers;  "and  once  in  a  while  I  feel 
sorry  for  him  myself.  But,  just  the  same,  he 
isn't  to  be  trusted." 

"If  you'll  excuse  me  for  saying  something, 
Major,  I  don't  think  I'd  take  the  matter  to  Cap 
tain  Dale — at  least  not  just  yet,"  put  in  Jack. 
This  conversation  took  place  during  the  cadets' 
off  time,  and  the  young  captain  felt  he  could  talk 
freely  to  his  superior  officer.  "If  we  find  that 
Stowell  really  tried  to  injure  us,  I  guess  we  can 
take  care  of  him,"  and  he  smiled  suggestively. 

"All  right,  we'll  let  it  go  at  that,"  answered 


NEWS  FROM  ABROAD  69 

Ralph  Mason ;  and  then  walked  away,  satisfied  in 
his  own  mind  that  he  had  said  quite  enough  to  the 
other  boys. 

By  careful  inquiry  it  was  ascertained  that  sev 
eral  other  cadets  had  noticed  Stowell  talking  to 
some  of  the  Columbus  students  and  had  overheard 
some  of  the  remarks.  All  were  of  the  opinion 
that  the  little  cadet  had  told  altogether  too  much, 
although  it  was  possible  that  he  was  innocent  in 
the  matter. 

"We  certainly  ought  to  teach  him  some  kind 
of  a  lesson,"  remarked  Andy. 

"I  wonder  where  Codfish  is  now?"  questioned 
his  twin  quickly. 

"I  don't  know,  but  I  think  we  can  soon  find 
out.  Come  on — let  us  look  him  up." 

"Hi !  what  are  you  up  to  ?"  demanded  Jack,  feel 
ing  that  something  was  in  the  air. 

"Oh,  let  them  go,  Jack !"  cried  Fred.  And  then 
he  added  to  the  twins:  "If  it's  anything  worth 
seeing,  let  us  know  about  it." 

"We  will !"  called  back  Andy  gaily. 

The  twins  hunted  around  the  school,  and  at 
last  found  Henry  Stowell  in  the  gymnasium, 
where  he  was  sitting  on  a  bench  watching  some 
other  cadets  going  through  their  athletic  exer 
cises. 

"If  we  can  only  manage  to  keep  him  here  a 


70  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

while  we  might  be  able  to  fix  up  something  id 
his  room  for  him,"  suggested  Randy. 

"I  guess  that  would  be  easy,"  answered  his 
twin.  "There  is  Walt  Baxter.  We'll  get  him 
to  engage  Codfish's  attention  for  a  while." 

Walt  was  called  to  one  side  and  the  situation 
explained  to  him.  He  readily  consented  to  see 
to  it  that  Stowell  was  kept  from  going  up  to  his 
room  for  some  time.  Then  the  twins  hurried  off 
in  the  direction  of  the  Hall. 

"We  must  teach  him  a  lesson  that  he  won't  for 
get  in  a  hurry,"  remarked  Randy. 

"Right  you  are !"  was  his  brother's  reply. 

Half  an  hour  later  the  other  Rovers,  along  with 
Gif,  Spouter  and  Dan,  were  coming  up  to  their 
rooms  when  they  were  met  at  the  head  of  the 
stairs  by  the  twins. 

"We're  all  ready  for  Codfish,"  announced 
Randy,  somewhat  excitedly.  "Just  wait  until  I 
go  down  to  the  gym  and  tip  Walt  Baxter  off." 

"Walt  and  Codfish  are  in  the  school  library. 
They  just  came  over,"  announced  Dan.  "Ned 
Lowe  is  with  them.  They  were  asking  Codfish  a 
lot  of  fool  questions  in  history,  as  to  when  Han 
nibal  discovered  the  south  pole  and  things  like 
that." 

Randy  ran  down  and  in  a  minute  more  was  in 
the  school  library.  He  caught  Walt  Baxter's  eye 


NEWS  FROM  ABROAD  71 

and  nodded  to  let  the  other  cadet  know  that 
everything  was  all  right.  Then  Walt  did  the 
same  to  Ned. 

"Well,  I'm  getting  sleepy,  Stowell,"  said  Walt, 
stretching  himself.  "I  think  I'll  go  and  hit  the 
hay." 

"Ditto  here,"  came  from  Ned. 

"I'm  real  tired  myself,  and  I'd  have  gone  to 
bed  some  time  ago  if  you  hadn't  asked  me  so 
many  questions,"  answered  Henry  Stowell,  with 
a  yawn. 

"Then  you  don't  really  know  much  about  who 
discovered  the  south  pole?"  said  Ned  seriously. 
"You  see,  I  want  to  put  it  in  a  composition  I'm 
writing  about  cats." 

"I  don't  see  what  cats  have  to  do  with  the  south 
pole,"  said  Stowell  innocently. 

"Oh,  that's  easy,  Codfish,"  said  Walt.  "Cats 
like  to  climb  poles,  and  the  south  pole  is  the  south 
pole,  isn't  it  ?"  And  then  he  and  Ned  walked  off 
and  joined  Randy,  and  all  hurried  upstairs  to  the 
Rovers'  rooms. 

As  luck  would  have  it  Henry  Stowell  this 
term  was  occupying  a  room  by  himself.  It  was  a 
fairly  large  apartment  and  furnished  with  a  single 
bed,  a  chiffonier,  a  table,  and  several  chairs.  In 
one  corner  was  a  closet  in  which  he  kept  most  of 
his  clothing  and  also  a  handbag. 


72 

"Well,  what  have  you  done?"  questioned  Fre3, 
as  the  twins  appeared. 

"We  fixed  it  up  so  Codfish  is  going  to  spend 
a  real  pleasant  night,"  answered  Andy,  with  a 
grin. 

"But  what  did  you  do  ?"  came  from  Jack. 

"Just  you  fellows  wait  and  see.  Walt,  will  you 
go  out  and  let  us  know  when  Codfish  comes 
up?" 

"I  will,"  answered  Walt  Baxter,  and  hurried 
to  a  corner  of  the  corridor  where  he  might  see 
without  being  seen. 

In  less  than  five  minutes  he  came  back  hur 
riedly  with  the  information  that  Stowell  had  just 
entered  his  room. 

"All  right,  then,  fellows,  come  with  me  and 
maybe  you  will  see  or  hear  something  worth 
while,"  announced  Randy  gleefully. 

"How  are  we  going  to  see  anything  when  he 
shuts  his  door  on  us  ?"  questioned  Dan. 

"His  window  is  right  next  to  the  platform  of 
the  new  fire-escape,"  answered  Andy.  "We'll  go 
out  on  that,  and  then  maybe  we'll  see  everything 
that  goes  on.  He  always  keeps  a  bright  light 
in  his  room  and  always  pulls  down  the  shade. 
But  we  fixed  it  so  the  shade  will  come  down  only 
so  far,  leaving  a  crack  that  we  can  look  through 
with  ease." 


NEWS  FROM  'ABROAD  73 

"I  hope  you  haven't  done  anything  to  get  us  in 
bad  with  Captain  Dale,"  remarked  Jack. 

"Oh,  this  isn't  as  bad  as  all  that,  Jack,"  an 
swered  Andy.  "It's  just  something  to  wake  Cod 
fish  up." 

Led  by  the  twins,  the  other  Rovers  and  their 
chums  hurried  down  the  side  corridor  to  where 
there  was  a  red  light  and  a  sign,  "Fire  Escape." 
Then  they  threw  open  a  window,  and  in  a  moment 
more  stood  on  the  escape  mentioned.  It  was  of 
steel,  fairly  wide,  and  ran  along  past  several  win 
dows,  the  second  of  which  belonged  to  the  room 
occupied  by  Stowell. 

As  they  stepped  out  on  the  fire  escape  they  saw 
a  light  flash  up  in  the  sneak's  room  and  a  few 
seconds  later  the  window  shade  was  pulled  down. 

"Just  as  I  told  you!"  Andy  exclaimed.  "I 
knew  the  shade  would  come  down.  And  see! 
there  is  the  crack  we  mentioned.  Now,  then,  line 
up  under  the  window  and  we'll  see  what  happens 
next." 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  JOKE  ON  THE  SNEAK 

THE  window  of  Stowell's  room  had  been  left 
open  so  the  boys  outside  could  hear,  as  well  as 
see,  what  went  on  within.  They  saw  the  sneak 
of  the  school  yawn  and  stretch  as  if  he  was  tired, 
and  then  he  lost  no  time  in  preparing  to  retire. 

In  one  of  his  pockets  he  carried  a  piece  of  cake, 
and  this  he  ate  with  satisfaction  while  undress 
ing.  Then,  when  clad  only  in  his  pajamas,  he 
turned  off  the  light  and  moved  in  the  semi-dark 
ness  toward  the  bed. 

"Now  watch,"  murmured  Andy,  somewhat  ex 
citedly. 

All  outside  did  so,  ranging  their  heads  close  to 
gether  at  the  open  slit  of  the  window.  They 
heard  Stowell  throw  back  the  covers  of  the  bed 
and  then  sit  down.  An  instant  later  came  a  cry 
of  surprise. 

"What's  this?  Oh,  dear  me!  something  is  in 
the  bed!" 

The  sneak  of  the  school  bounced  to  his  feet  so 
74 


THE  JOKE  ON  THE  SNEAK  75 

hurriedly  that  he  tipped  over  a  chair  standing 
alongside  of  the  bed  and  pitched  forward  head 
long  to  the  floor. 

"Hi!  Leave  me  alone!  Get  away  from  me! 
Scat!"  they  heard  him  ejaculate  and  then  give  a 
little  squeal  of  terror  as  he  scrambled  once  more 
to  his  feet.  Then  they  heard  him  rush  to  the 
side  of  the  room  and  once  more  make  a  light. 

As  the  rays  filled  the  apartment  those  outside 
saw  something  of  what  had  taken  place.  Not  less 
than  half  a  dozen  mice  were  doing  their  best  to 
hide  themselves  here  and  there  under  the  bed  and 
the  chiffonier  and  in  the  corners  of  the  room. 
One  or  two  scampered  directly  past  Stowell,  who 
set  up  another  squeal  of  alarm  and  then  leaped 
up  on  the  nearest  chair. 

"He's  enjoying  it,  all  right,"  murmured  Randy. 

"Shut  up!"  came  promptly  from  Fred.  "If 
he  sees  us  we'll  have  to  dust  for  it." 

But  the  eyes  of  the  sneak  were  not  turned 
toward  the  window.  He  was  looking  only  at  the 
mice,  two  of  which  were  still  scampering  across 
the  floor  trying  to  find  some  hole  of  escape. 

"Somebody's  been  playing  a  trick  on  me,"  mur 
mured  Stowell  to  himself.  "Just  wait  till  I  find 
out  who  did  it,  I'll  fix  him!" 

He  remained  standing  on  the  chair,  not  caring 
to  venture  on  the  floor  in  his  bare  feet  and  with 


^6  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK  * 

the  mice  still  at  liberty.  He  had  placed  his  shoes 
under  the  head  of  the  bed. 

"I've  got  to  clear  them  out  somehow,"  he  mut 
tered  to  himself.  "But  I  guess  I'd  better  put  my 
shoes  on  first.  Then  I'll  get  that  baseball  bat  in 
the  closet  and  do  it." 

With  extreme  caution  Codfish  descended  from 
the  chair  and  walked  hurriedly  across  the  floor 
to  the  head  of  his  bed.  He  drew  forth  the  shoes 
and  started  quickly  to  put  them  on. 

His  toes  were  just  going  down  into  one  of  the 
shoes  when  he  let  out  a  yell  which  would  have 
done  credit  to  a  wild  Indian.  One  of  the  mice 
had  found  refuge  in  the  footwear,  and  now  it  gave, 
a  bound  and  scrambled  up  inside  the  leg  of  Sto- 
well's  pajamas. 

"Hi!  Get  out  of  there!  Help!  Murder!  Take 
that  beast  away!  Oh,  my!  he'll  bite  me  sure! 
Ouch !  he's  bit  me  already !"  And  then  the  sneak 
of  the  school  began  to  dance  around  wildly,  in 
the  meantime  clutching  savagely  in  the  region  of 
the  knee  where  the  mouse  had  found  lodgement. 
Caught,  the  little  animal  had  nipped  Codfish  in 
the  finger. 

"Gee,  this  is  the  richest  yet!"  chuckled  Walt 
Baxter. 

"Better  than  a  moving  picture,"  was  Gif's  com 
ment. 


THE  JOKE  ON  THE  SNEAK  77; 

"He'll  wake  the  whole  school  if  he  makes  much 
more  noise,"  remarked  Jack.  "Be  prepared  to 
skip  out  when  the  time  comes." 

"I'll  have  somebody  arrested  for  this,"  howled 
Codfish,  as  he  still  struggled  with  the  mouse  that 
was  up  his  leg.  "This  is  beastly!  Oh,  dear! 
what  in  the  world  shall  I  do  ?" 

He  gave  a  savage  tug  at  his  pajamas,  and  the 
next  instant  there  was  a  tearing  sound  and  the 
cloth  parted  at  the  knee.  Out  leaped  the  mouse, 
to  disappear  quickly  under  the  bed. 

Panting  from  his  excitement,  and  muttering  to 
himself,  the  sneak  of  the  school,  making  sure  that 
the  shoes  were  now  both  empty,  slipped  his  feet 
into  them  and  then  hurried  toward  the  clothing 
closet  located  in  a  corner.  He  intended  to  get  a 
baseball  bat  with  which  to  either  kill  the  mice  or. 
chase  them  out  into  the  hallway. 

"Now  watch,"  whispered  Randy.  "Here  is 
where  he  gets  another  surprise." 

Stowell  flung  open  the  door  of  the  closet  in  a 
hurry.  As  he  did  this  he  found  himself  con 
fronted  by  the  figure  of  a  Colby  Hall  cadet.  The 
intruder  had  a  handkerchief  tied  over  his  face. 

"Hi !  what  are  you  doing  here  ?"  cried  Stowell 
in  sudden  surprise.  "You're  the  fellow  who's 
playing  the  trick  on  me,  eh?  I'll  fix  you,  you 
see  if  I  don't!"  And  then  struck  by  a  sudden 


78  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

idea,  Stowell  slammed  shut  the  door  of  the  closet 
and  locked  it.  "Now  I've  got  you,  and  you'll 
suffer  for  this  nonsense — you  see  if  you  don't!" 
he  shouted. 

"Gee!  this  is  the  best  yet!"  burst  out  Andy  in 
a  low  voice.  "I  didn't  think  he'd  lock  that  dum 
my  in." 

"We  only  put  it  there  to  scare  him,"  explained 
Randy.  "It's  one  of  his  old  suits  stuffed  out.  We 
thought  it  might  fall  out  on  him  when  he  opened 
the  door.  But  I  guess  it's  better  the  way  it  is," 
he  chuckled. 

"Where  did  you  get  those  mice?"  Gif  ques 
tioned. 

"Oh,  that  was  easy,"  answered  Andy.  "I  met 
Pud  Hicks,  the  janitor's  assistant,  this  noon  and 
he  was  telling  me  of  a  whole  lot  of  mice  he  had 
caught  down  in  the  barn  during  the  past  week. 
He  had  the  bunch  in  a  box,  and  he  said  he  was 
going  to  take  them  down  to  the  river  and  drown 
them.  I  knew  where  the  box  was,  and  getting 
them  was  easy." 

By  this  time  Codfish  had  slipped  into  his  trous 
ers,  and  now  he  put  on  his  coat. 

"He's  going  downstairs  to  tell  Captain  Dale  or 
one  of  the  professors!"  exclaimed  Jack  in  a  low 
voice.  "We  had  better  get  out  of  here." 

The  young  captain's  advice  was  followed,  and 


THE  JOKE  ON  THE  SNEAK  79 

all  lost  no  time  in  leaving  the  fire  escape  and  en 
tering  the  school  building.  They  were  just  in 
time  to  see  the  door  to  Stowell's  room  flung  open 
and  the  sneak  hurry  downstairs. 

"I  must  see  what  he  does !"  cried  Randy,  who 
could  never  let  any  portion  of  a  joke  get  away 
from  him,  and  he  hurried  down  the  stairs  after 
Stowell. 

Captain  Mapes  Dale  was  in  the  office  of  the 
school  writing  a  letter  when  Stowell  burst  in  upon 
him  with  scant  ceremony. 

"Oh,  Captain  Dale,  won't  you  please  come 
quick?"  cried  the  little  sneak,  all  out  of  breath 
with  excitement.  "Somebody  put  about  a  million 
mice  in  my  room,  and  I've  got  the  fellow  locked 
up  in  my  clothes-closet." 

"A  million  mice  in  your  room,  Stowell!"  ex 
claimed  the  captain,  leaping  to  his  feet.  "Surely 
you  must  be  mistaken.  You  don't  mean  quite 
that  many,"  and  a  faint  smile  crossed  his  fea 
tures. 

"Well,  there  are  a  whole  lot  of  them,  anyway," 
returned  Codfish.  "When  I  opened  my  bed  they 
leaped  right  out  at  me  and  they  ran  all  over  the 
floor,  and  then  one  of  them  went  up  the  leg  of 
my  pajamas  and  bit  me.  See  how  I  had  to  tear 
my  pajamas  to  get  him  out?"  and  he  showed 
the  spot. 


8o  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"And  you  say  you  have  the  culprit  locked  up 
in  your  closet?"  demanded  Captain  Dale. 

"Yes,  sir.  Won't  you  please  come  up  and  see 
who  it  is  before  he  has  a  chance  to  break  out? 
Of  course  he'll  try  to  get  away  if  he  can.  He 
won't  want  to  be  caught." 

"Yes,  I'll  go  up  immediately.  Are  the  mice  up 
there  still?" 

"Yes,  sir.  I  shut  the  door  on  them  so  they 
couldn't  get  away." 

"Then  I  had  better  call  the  janitor  and  his 
assistant  first,  so  that  we  can  round  up  the  mil 
lion  mice,  more  or  less." 

Fortunately  Pud  Hicks  was  not  around  the 
building,  so  could  not  be  summoned.  But  Job 
Plunger,  the  school  janitor,  was  at  hand,  and  so 
was  Bob  Nixon,  the  school  chauffeur. 

"I  guess  I  know  where  those  mice  came  from," 
said  Nixon,  with  a  grin.  "Hicks  caught  a  lot  of 
them  down  at  the  barn.  He  was  going  to  drown 
'em  down  at  the  river  to-morrow.  Somebody 
must  have  got  hold  of  'em  and  put  'em  in  Sto- 
well's  room." 

Nixon  and  Plunger  followed  Captain  Dale  and 
Stowell  to  the  cadet's  room.  In  the  meanwhile 
Randy  had  rejoined  the  other  Rovers  and  their 
chums,  and  likewise  rapped  on  half  a  dozen  doors 
as  he  passed,  and  as  a  consequence  fully  a  score 


THE  JOKE  ON  THE  SNEAK  8l 

of  cadets  were  made  aware  that  something  un 
usual  was  happening. 

"What's  the  row?" 

"Is  it  a  fire?" 

"Are  they  going  to  celebrate  the  victory  over 
Columbus  Academy?" 

"If  anything  good  to  eat  is  being  passed  around 
count  me  in." 

"Codfish  is  holding  a  celebration !"  cried  Andy 
from  around  a  corner  and  in  a  disguised  voice. 
"Everybody  watch  for  something  good  from  Cod 
fish's  room." 

The  appearance  of  Captain  Dale  with  Stowell 
only  whetted  the  curiosity  of  the  assembled  stu 
dents,  and  from  half-closed  doors  they  watched 
the  head  of  the  school  and  the  little  sneak  ap 
proach  the  room.  The  door  was  left  open,  and  a 
moment  later  out  popped  one  mouse,  quickly  fol 
lowed  by  another. 

"Hello,  there's  a  mouse !" 

"Hi,  catch  those  fellows!"  yelled  Bob  Nixon, 
who  was  on  hand  with  a  trap,  followed  by  Job 
Plunger  with  a  box. 

The  school  janitor  was  quite  deaf,  and  so  could 
hear  nothing  of  what  was  going  on. 

The  escape  of  the  two  mice  was  a  signal  for 
the  assembling  students  to  begin  a  chase  after 
the  rodents.  Then  another  mouse  came  out  into 


82    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

the  hallway,  and  various  things  were  thrown  at 
the  scurrying  animal. 

"Here,  here !  Stop  that  noise  out  there !"  com 
manded  Captain  Dale.  "There  is  no  sense  in 
making  such  a  racket  over  a  few  little  mice.'* 

As  he  spoke  the  head  of  the  school  strode  to 
the  closet  door  and  unlocked  it. 

"Now  come  out  here  and  give  an  account  of 
yourself,"  he  said,  as  he  threw  the  door  open. 

"Now  you  are  going  to  catch  it  for  playing 
such  a  trick  on  me,"  exulted  Codfish. 

The  figure  in  the  closet,  of  course,  did  not  move, 
and  Captain  Dale  reached  forth  to  pull  the  offend 
ing  cadet  into  the  room.  But  then  he  stopped 
short,  and  something  of  a  smile  crossed  his  face. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you,  Stowell — are 
you  blind?"  he  demanded. 

"Blind?"  queried  the  sneak  of  the  school,  be 
wildered.  "What  do  you  mean?" 

"Can't  you  see  that  this  is  only  a  stuffed  fig 
ure?  And  it  hasn't  any  head  on,  either;  only  a 
handkerchief  tied  around  some  underwear  with  a 
cap  stuck  on  top." 

"Oh,  Captain  Dale,  you  don't  mean  it!"  cried 
Codfish,  and  fell  back  against  the  wall,  too  upset 
to  say  more. 

"But  I  do  mean  it,"  went  on  the  military  man, 
and  reached  for  the  dummy,  which  immediately 


THE  JOKE  ON  THE  SNEAK  83 

toppled  over  on  the  floor,  the  head  and  cap  roll 
ing  in  one  direction  and  the  legs  and  shoes  in 
another.  "It's  nothing  but  an  old  uniform 
stuffed  out." 

"Where's  them  mice?"  cried  Job  Plunger  in  a 
shrill  voice.  "Where's  them  mice,  I  say?" 

"You'll  have  to  find  them,  Plunger,"  answered 
Captain  Dale. 

"Behind  'em?"  remarked  the  deaf  janitor. 
"Behind  where?" 

"I  did  not  say  behind  anything,"  shouted  the 
captain.  "I  said  you'd  have  to  find  them." 

"Oh.  Well,  I'll  find  'em  if  they're  in  the 
room,"  said  Plunger. 

By  this  time  the  noise  and  excitement  had  in 
creased  so  that  nearly  half  of  the  school  was  out 
in  the  corridor  in  front  of  Stowell's  room.  They 
saw  the  remains  of  the  stuffed  figure  on  the  floor, 
and  many  quickly  surmised  that  a  joke  had  been 
played. 

"What  is  Codfish  doing  with  that  dummy?" 

"Has  he  been  using  it  for  an  imitation  Hun  to 
shoot  at?" 

"Maybe  he's  going  to  join  the  football  team 
next  Fall  and  wants  to  practice  up." 

"Has  he  been  taming  mice  on  the  sly?" 

"Gee !  I  don't  want  to  stay  in  a  place  where  a 
fellow  keeps  mice  in  his  room." 


84    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

In  the  midst  of  this  talk  the  janitor  and  the 
chauffeur  did  what  they  could  to  round  up  the 
escaped  mice.  They  managed  to  capture  two  of 
the  rodents  and  kill  two  others,  and  that  was  all 
that  could  be  found. 

"If  there  were  any  more,  the  rest  must  have 
gotten  away,"  remarked  Bob  Nixon. 

"This  is  simply  a  practical  joke,"  announced 
Captain  Dale,  after  a  few  more  words  with  Sto- 
well.  "Have  you  any  idea  who  played  it  ?" 

"I  don't  know  exactly,  sir,  but  I  think  maybe  I 
can  find  out,"  answered  the  sneak.  He  felt  much 
subdued,  especially  as  he  saw  the  eyes  of  many 
of  the  other  cadets  on  him. 

"Well,  you  go  to  bed  now,  and  I'll  take  this 
matter  up  to-morrow  morning,"  said  Captain 
Dale.  "Boys,  I  want  you  all  to  retire,  and  at 
once/'  he  went  on  with  a  wave  of  his  hand  to 
those  outside.  And  then  the  cadets  dispersed  to 
their  rooms. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE     GAME     WITH     LONGLEY 

I  GUESS  that  will  hold  Codfish  for  a  while," 
remarked  Randy,  when  the  Rovers  were  once 
more  by  themselves  in  their  rooms  and  the  ex 
citement  had  died  away. 

"I'll  have  to  make  it  a  point  to  see  Pud  Hicks 
the  first  thing  in  the  morning,"  returned  his  twin. 
"Pud  might  tell  somebody  that  he  showed  those 
mice  to  me." 

"Yes,  you'd  better  do  that,  by  all  means,"  put 
in  Jack. 

"And  another  thing  you  ought  to  do,  is  to  let 
Codfish  know  why  this  trick  was  played  on  him," 
came  from  Fred.  "Otherwise  it  will  be  a  good 
effort  thrown  away,"  and  he  grinned. 

"I'll  leave  a  note  under  his  door,"  said  Randy, 
and  a  little  later  scribbled  out  the  following  on  a 
card: 

"This  is  what  you  get,  Codfish,  for  giving  in- 
85 


86    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

formation  to  our  baseball  rivals.     Be  careful  in 
the  future  to  keep  your  mouth  shut. 

"THE  AVENGERS." 

"I  reckon  that  will  hold  him  for  a  while,"  said 
Randy,  and  before  going  to  bed  he  slipped  out 
into  the  corridor  and  placed  the  card  under  Sto- 
well's  door. 

Early  in  the  morning  Andy  saw  the  assistant 
janitor  and  easily  arranged  for  Pud  Hicks  to  say 
nothing  about  the  mice. 

"Why,  over  a  dozen  of  the  cadets  saw  those 
mice,"  said  Hicks;  "so  they  can't  blame  any  of 
this  on  you."  And  it  may  be  mentioned  here 
that  the  investigation  which  followed  came  to 
nought. 

Two  days  later  Andy  burst  in  on  the  others 
like  a  whirlwind,  his  face  glowing  with  excite 
ment. 

"Come  on  downstairs,  everybody!"  he  called 
out.  "Colonel  Colby  has  just  arrived!  Come 
on,  and  ask  him  what  he  can  tell  us  about  our 
fathers." 

At  this  announcement  there  was  a  general  stam 
pede.  All  of  the  others  dropped  the  textbooks 
they  had  been  studying  and  made  a  simultaneous 
rush  for  the  corridor  and  the  stairs.  Down,  pell- 
mell,  went  the  whole  crowd,  to  join  a  group  of 


THE  GAME  WITH  LONGLEY  87 

cadets  in  the  lower  hall,  everyone  of  whom  was 
doing  his  best  to  shake  Colonel  Colby's  hand  first 

The  owner  of  the  school  was  dressed  in  his 
uniform  as  a  United  States  officer,  and  looked 
taller  and  more  bronzed  than  ever.  His  face 
wore  a  broad  smile  and  he  gave  each  of  his  pupils 
a  hearty  handshake. 

"Oh,  Colonel,  we  are  so  glad  to  see  you  back !" 
cried  Jack,  with  genuine  pleasure  as  he  wrung 
the  officer's  hand.  "And  I  hope  you  have  good 
news  of  my  father  and  my  uncles?" 

"I  am  as  glad  to  see  you  as  you  are  to  see  me, 
Captain  Rover,"  returned  Colonel  Colby.  "And 
it  is  a  genuine  pleasure  to  get  back  to  this  school 
after  having  endured  such  arduous  days  in 
France." 

"And  what  about  our  folks?"  added  Fred,  as 
he  too  came  in  for  a  handshake. 

"When  our  troopship  left  France  your  folks 
were  expecting  to  follow  in  about  ten  days  or  two 
weeks.  Most  likely  they  are  already  on  the  way." 

"And  they  were  well  ?"  asked  Randy  anxiously. 

"Quite  well.  Of  course,  you  know  that  your 
father  and  your  Uncle  Sam  were  wounded  by 
some  flying  shells,  and  that  your  Uncle  Dick  suf 
fered  from  a  gas  attack.  But  they  are  all  recov 
ering  rapidly,  and  I  don't  doubt  but  what  they 
will  soon  be  as  well  as  ever." 


88    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Somebody  said  that  dad  had  won  a  medal  of 
honor,"  said  Jack,  his  eyes  lighting  up  with  ex 
pectancy. 

"It  is  true.  He  did  win  such  a  medal.  And 
he  deserved  it.  Probably  he  will  give  you  all 
the  particulars  when  he  arrives/' 

That  was  all  Colonel  Colby  could  say  at  the 
time,  because  many  others  wanted  to  shake  his 
hand,  from  Captain  Dale  down  through  all  the 
teachers  and  the  cadets  to  the  school  janitor,  and 
even  the  women  working  in  the  kitchen  and  the 
men  in  the  stables.  He  had  been  on  good  terms 
with  all  his  hired  help,  and  now  they  showed  a 
real  affection  for  him  which  touched  his  heart 
deeply. 

"Just  think  of  it !  Our  fathers  may  be  back  in 
ten  days!"  exclaimed  Andy.  "Isn't  it  the  best 
ever!"  And  he  commenced  to  dance  a  jig  just 
to  let  off  steam. 

The  boys  lost  no  time  in  telephoning  to  the  girls, 
and  it  may  be  imagined  that  Martha  and  Mary- 
were  indeed  glad  to  hear  the  news. 

The  next  day,  just  as  the  session  was  closing, 
the  Rovers  were  informed  that  a  man  and  a 
boy  were  out  on  the  campus  waiting  to  see  them. 
They  hurried  out  and  found  themselves  con 
fronted  by  John  Franklin  and  his  son  Phil. 

"I've  been  promising  myself  right  along  that 


THE  GAME  WITH  LONGLEY  89 

I'd  come  and  see  you  fellows,"  said  John  Frank 
lin.  "But  somehow  I  couldn't  get  around  to  it. 
But  now  that  my  son  and  I  are  going  back  to 
Texas  I  felt  I'd  have  at  least  to  say  good-bye  and 
thank  you  once  again  for  what  you  fellows  did 
for  us." 

"And  as  my  father  wasn't  able  to  reward  you, 
I  thought  maybe  you  wouldn't  mind  if  I  made 
each  of  you  something  out  of  wood  with  my 
jackknife,"  put  in  Phil  Franklin,  somewhat  awk 
wardly.  "You  know,  handling  a  jackknife  is  one 
of  my  specialties,"  he  added,  with  a  grin.  "So 
please  accept  these  with  our  compliments.  You 
can  divide  them  up  to  suit  yourselves." 

He  handed  over  a  package  done  up  in  a  news 
paper,  and,  unfolding  this,  the  Rovers  found  four 
articles  carved  out  of  hard  wood.  One  was  an 
inkstand,  another  a  miniature  canoe,  a  third  an 
elaborate  napkin  ring,  and  the  fourth  a  tray  for 
holding  pins  and  collar  buttons. 

"Why,  those  are  real  fine,  Phil,"  said  Jack,  as 
he  looked  the  articles  over. 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  you  did  all  of  this 
work  with  a  knife?"  questioned  Andy  admir 
ingly. 

"Every  bit  of  it,"  was  the  reply. 

"They  are  beautiful,"  was  Randy's  comment, 
after  an  inspection. 


90  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Better  than  you  could  buy  in  the  stores,"  added 
Fred. 

"I'm  pleased  to  know  that  you  like  my  son's 
handiwork,"  said  John  Franklin. 

"They  are  real  good,"  said  Jack.  "But  we 
don't  feel  like  taking  these  things  without  giving 
you  something  in  return,"  he  added  hastily. 

"Oh,  that's  all  right!"  cried  Phil  Franklin. 
"You've  done  enough  for  us  already.  You  keep 
the  things  and  don't  say  anything  more  about  it." 

"And  so  you're  really  going  back  to  Texas?" 
questioned  Fred,  after  the  presents  had  been  in 
spected  again. 

"Yes,  we're  going  to  start  to-morrow  noon," 
answered  John  Franklin.  "I've  got  a  little  money 
together  now,  and  I'm  going  back  to  see  if  I 
can't  put  a  crimp  in  those  oil-well  sharpers  who 
did  me  out  of  my  farm." 

"Well,  I  certainly  hope  you  get  the  best  of 
those  fellows  if  they  swindled  you,"  said  Randy 
heartily. 

The  conversation  lasted  half  an  hour  longer, 
and  during  that  time  Randy  and  Jack  excused 
themselves  and  slipped  off  to  their  rooms.  When 
they  came  back  they  had  a  small  package  contain 
ing  two  of  their  best  story  books. 

"Here  are  a  couple  of  books  which  perhaps 
you'll  like  to  read  on  the  trains,"  said  Jack.  "We 


THE  GAME  WITH  LONGLEY  91 

•want  you  to  accept  them  with  the  compliments  of 
all  of  us." 

"Oh,  story  books !"  And  Phil  Franklin's  eyes 
lit  up  with  pleasure.  "I  love  to  read.  Are  you 
sure  you  can  spare  them  ?"  And  when  they  said 
they  could  he  continued;  "That  suits  me  im 
mensely." 

A  little  later  father  and  son  took  their  depar 
ture. 

"Pretty  nice  people,"  was  Jack's  comment.  "I 
certainly  hope  they  get  their  rights." 

This  meeting  took  place  on  the  day  when  Long- 
ley  Academy  played  Columbus  Academy.  The 
cadets,  remembering  the  score  between  Hixley 
High  and  Longley,  were  very  anxious  to  know 
how  the  Columbus  team  would  fare  against  the 
new  school. 

"Well,  Longley  wins  again!"  exclaimed  Ned 
Lowe,  who  came  in  with  the  news. 

"What  was  the  score?"  questioned  Gif  with 
much  interest. 

"Eleven  to  two." 

"You  don't  mean  it!"  cried  Spouter.  "Why, 
that's  worse  than  the  game  they  took  from  Hix 
ley  High!" 

"One  thing  is  certain :  The  Longley  team  knows 
how  to  play,"  said  Jack  decidedly.  "We  may  not 
like  Tommy  Flanders  and  his  bunch,  but,  just 


92    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

the  same,  you've  got  to  hand  it  to  'em  for  know 
ing  how  to  put  it  across." 

"It  looks  to  me  as  if  we  might  be  in  for  a  de 
feat,"  remarked  another  cadet. 

"Defeat !  Don't  talk  that  way,  Leeds/'  stormed 
Gif.  "Colby  Hall  is  going  to  win!" 

"Well,  I  hope  so,  but  I'm  afraid  you'll  be  dis 
appointed,"  answered  Leeds.  He  was  a  new 
pupil,  and  was  of  a  decidedly  pessimistic  turn 
of  mind. 

The  victories  of  Longley  over  Hixley  and 
Columbus  served  one  good  purpose.  It  caused 
Gif  to  call  his  team  together  and  read  them  a 
stern  lecture. 

"We  are  evidently  up  against  a  bunch  of  real 
ball  players,"  said  the  captain.  "We've  got  to 
buckle  down  in  this  contest  and  do  our  very  best, 
and  then  some.  I  want  every  man  to  practice 
all  he  can  from  now  on.  And  when  the  time 
comes  I  want  every  man  to  play  the  game  with 
all  the  brains  and  all  the  nerve  that  are  in  him." 

Longley  Academy  being  devoted,  as  mentioned 
before,  very  largely  to  physical  culture  and  ath 
letics,  had  an  extra  fine  baseball  grounds  with  a 
beautiful  new  grandstand  and  bleachers.  The 
new  school  was  anxious  to  show  off  these  grounds, 
and  so  had  insisted  that  the  game  be  played  there, 
and  this  had  been  agreed  to  after  it  was  an- 


THE  GAME  WITH  LONGLEY  93 

nounced  that  one  half  of  the  stands  should  be 
set  aside  for  the  cadets  of  Colby  Hall  and  their 
friends. 

It  had  been  noised  about  that  this  game  was 
to  be  "for  blood,"  so  that  when  the  time  came 
for  the  contest  the  grounds  were  overflowing  with 
people.  Everybody  from  Colby  Hall  and  Long- 
ley  was  there,  and  in  addition  quite  a  respectable 
crowd  from  Hixley,  Columbus,  and  from  Clear- 
water  Hall.  There  was  also  a  scattering  of  people 
from  the  town  and  the  surrounding  districts. 

"Oh,  Jack,  aren't  you  nervous?"  questioned 
Martha,  when  he  met  the  girls  from  Clearwater. 

"If  I  am  I'm  not  going  to  show  it,"  he  replied 
to  his  sister. 

"Jack,  I'm  going  to  root  harder  than  I  ever  did 
in  my  life,"  said  Ruth,  as  she  held  up  a  banner 
marked  Colby  Hall  and  another  marked  Clear- 
water  Hall. 

"We're  all  going  to  root,"  declared  May 
Powell. 

The  stands  were  speedily  filled  to  overflowing, 
and  there  was  a  large  crowd  assembled  behind 
the  foul  line  on  either  side  of  the  diamond. 
There  was  a  loud  cheering  when  the  Colby  Hall 
nine  appeared,  and  a  like  cheer  when  the  Long- 
ley  players  put  in  an  appearance. 

"Hurrah  for  Colby  Hall!" 


94  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Three  cheers  for  Longley  Academy!" 

"Here  is  where  the  cadets  walk  off  with  another 
one!" 

"Not  much!  Here  is  where  Longley  snows 
you  under!" 

And  so  the  gibes  and  comments  ran  on,  while 
every  once  in  a  while  wild  cheering  rang  out, 
mingled  with  the  noise  of  horns  and  rattles. 

The  toss-up  sent  Longley  to  the  bat  first,  and 
with  a  cheer  from  his  friends  Jack  took  the  ball 
and  walked  down  to  the  box. 

"Now  then,  fellows,  swat  it  good  and  plenty!" 
cried  Tommy  Flanders.  "We  want  about  half  a 
dozen  runs  the  first  inning." 

"He  doesn't  want  much,"  murmured  Fred. 

The  first  man  up  was  a  heavy  hitter  named 
Durrick.  He  had  one  strike  and  two  balls  called, 
and  then  sent  a  low  one  to  left  field  which  gave 
him  first  base  with  ease. 

"Hurrah,  boys!  Keep  it  a-going!"  cried  Tom 
my  Flanders,  dancing  around  joyously. 

The  second  man  up  knocked  two  fouls  and  then 
a  short  fly  to  third.  But  then  came  another  safe 
hit  to  right  field  which  took  the  batter  to  first 
while  the  other  runner  gained  third. 

"Take  it  easy,  old  man,"  cautioned  Gif,  as  he 
came  up  to  speak  to  Jack.  "Don't  let  them  rattle 
you." 


THE  GAME  WITH  LONGLEY 


95 


"They  are  not  going  to  rattle  me,"  answered 
Jack  sturdily. 

He  gritted  his  teeth,  and  then  sent  in  three 
swift  balls  so  quickly  that  the  next  batsman  was 
taken  completely  by  surprise  and  was  declared 
out  almost  before  he  knew  it. 

"That's  the  stuff,  Colby!  Two  out!  Hold  'em 
down !" 

"Knock  it  out!     Bring  Durrick  in!" 

The  next  player  up  was  a  tall,  lanky  chap 
named  Wilks.  He  swung  savagely  at  the  sphere 
as  if  intending  to  knock  it  over  the  back  fence. 

"If  he  ever  connects  with  it  it  will  be  a  homer 
with  three  runs  in,"  thought  Gif. 

Two  strikes  were  called,  and  then  three  balls. 
Then  Jack  took  a  sudden  brace  and  sent  in  a 
swift  high  one.  Wilks  leaped  for  it,  and  the 
crack  of  the  bat  could  be  heard  all  over  the 
grounds. 

It  looked  like  a  safe  hit  to  center  field,  but  as 
the  crack  of  the  bat  sounded  on  the  air  Jack 
Rover  was  seen  to  leap  high  up  with  hand  out- 
sti  etched.  The  next  instant  he  came  down  with 
the  sphere  safe  within  his  grasp. 

"Fly  ball!     Batter  out!" 

Longley  Academy  had  played  its  first  inning 
without  scoring. 


CHAPTER   X 

A  GLORIOUS  VICTORY 

"Goon  for  Jack  Rover!" 

"That  was  some  stop,  all  right!" 

"Maybe  it  didn't  sting  his  hand!" 

So  the  cries  ran  on,  and  when  the  Colby  Hall 
nine  came  in  from  the  field  the  young  pitcher 
was  wildly  applauded. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Gif  ran  to  him  anx 
iously. 

"It  was  the  best  ever,  Jack,  but  did  it  hurt  your 
hand — I  mean  enough  to  stop  your  pitching?" 

"It's  not  going  to  stop  my  pitching,  Gif,"  an 
swered  the  young  pitcher.  His  hand  stung  as  if 
burnt  by  fire,  but  he  was  not  going  to  admit  it. 

"Oh,  wasn't  that  a  glorious  play!"  burst  out 
Ruth  Stevenson,  and  her  glowing  face  showed 
her  pleasure. 

"I  hope  Jack  wasn't  hurt,"  answered  the  young 
captain's  sister  solicitously. 

There  was  another  cheering  when  Dan  Sop- 
pinger  stepped  to  the  plate  with  his  bat  in  hand. 

96 


A  GLORIOUS  VICTORY  97 

Dan  had  two  strikes  called  on  him,  and  then 
sent  a  fly  to  left  field  which  was  gathered  in 
with  ease. 

"One  out!     Keep  it  up,  Longley!" 

"Don't  let  'em  see  first!" 

Gif  was  the  next  player  up,  and  by  hard  work 
he  managed  to  rap  out  a  single  between  short 
and  second,  which  carried  him  to  first  in  safety. 
But  the  next  two  players  failed  to  connect  with 
the  sphere,  and  the  goose  egg  went  up  on  the 
board  for  the  cadets. 

After  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of  seesawing 
for  four  innings,  and  without  any  results  so  far 
as  scoring  was  concerned.  Longley  made  four 
hits,  and  so  did  the  Colby  boys.  But  no  runner 
got  further  than  second  base. 

Of  course  the  catching  of  the  red-hot  liner  had 
done  Jack's  pitching  hand  no  good.  It  was  a 
little  swollen  in  the  palm,  and  this  prevented  the 
fingers  from  working  quite  as  freely  as  would 
otherwise  have  been  the  case. 

"Now  listen,  Jack,"  said  Gif,  taking  him  to  one 
side  after  Jack  had  pitched  through  the  fifth 
inning.  "If  your  hand  hurts  you,  say  so,  and 
I'll  put  another  fellow  in  the  box." 

"Never  mind  my  hand,  Gif,  as  long  as  I  can 
treat  them  to  goose  eggs,"  answered  the  young 
pitcher. 


98  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"But  I  don't  want  you  to  ruin  your  hand." 

"That's  all  right.  When  I  feel  I  can't  do  any 
more  pitching  I'll  let  you  know." 

In  the  sixth  inning  there  came  a  break.  But 
this  could  not  be  called  Jack's  fault.  The  first 
Longley  player  up,  a  chap  named  Mason,  man 
aged  to  dribble  the  ball  toward  third,  and  before 
either  the  baseman  or  the  shortstop  could  send  it 
over  he  had  reached  first.  Then,  on  a  wild  throw 
to  second,  the  runner  not  only  covered  that  bag, 
but  went  on  and  slid  in  to  third. 

"Now  we've  got  'em  a-going,  fellows!"  was 
the  Longley  yell. 

"Right  you  are !" 

"Nobody  out,  and  a  man  on  third!  This  is 
the  time  we  wipe  up  the  diamond  with  them ! 
Everybody  on  the  job!" 

The  next  player  went  out  on  a  pop  fly.  Then 
came  Tommy  Flanders,  who  did  his  best  to  line 
out  a  single.  This  was  stopped  by  the  second 
baseman,  who,  however,  threw  the  ball  to  the 
home  plate,  thus  cutting  off  the  possibility  of  a 
run. 

"Hurrah!  Two  men  on  base,  and  only  one 
out!" 

"Here  is  where  Longley  does  some  big  scor- 

ing!" 
"Jack,  are  you  sure  you  can  hold  'em?"  Gif 


JACK  ROVER  LEAPED  HIGH  UP  AND  CAUGHT  THE  BALL. 
The  Rover  Boys  in  tlie  Land  of  Luck,  PaSe  95 


A  GLORIOUS  VICTORY  99 

questioned  anxiously,  as  he  came  up  to  the 
pitcher. 

"I'll  do  it  or  die  in  the  attempt,"  was  the  an 
swer,  and  Jack  gritted  his  teeth. 

It  was  certainly  a  trying  situation,  but  the 
young  pitcher  refused  to  allow  his  nerves  to  get 
the  better  of  him.  He  gave  a  signal  to  the  back 
stop,  and  then  sent  in  an  outcurve,  which  the 
batter  swung  at  in  vain.  Then  he  sent  in  a 
straight  ball,  following  this  by  another  outcurve, 
and  almost  before  he  knew  it  the  batter  was  struck 
out. 

"Hurrah !"  came  from  Spouter  Powell.  "That's 
the  way  to  do  it !  Two  men  out !  Now  for  the 
third  man!" 

The  Longley  player  to  come  up  was  one  of 
their  best  batsmen,  and  Jack  realized  that  to  give 
him  anything  like  a  good  ball  to  hit  would  bo 
fatal,  so  he  fed  the  man  nothing  but  those  which 
were  high  and  wide.  As  a  consequence  the  fel 
low  had  two  strikes  called  on  him  and  four 
balls,  and  took  his  base,  moving  Flanders  to 
second. 

"Hurrah !  Three  men  on  base !"  was  the  Long- 
ley  yell.  "Now,  then,  Simmons,  bring  'em  all 
in!" 

Simmons  came  forward  with  a  do-or-die  ex 
pression  on  his  face.  He  had  one  strike  called 


100  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

on  him,  and  then  knocked  a  low  one  toward  cen- 
terfield.  At  once  he  started  for  first,  while  the 
fellow  on  third  dashed  forward  for  the  home 
plate.  The  ball  was  gathered  in  as  quickly  as 
possible,  and  the  runner  from  first  to  second  was 
put  out.  But  the  runner  from  third  had  come 
in  just  before. 

"Hurrah!  That's  one  run,  anyhow!"  shouted 
the  Longley  supporters. 

"I  told  you  we  could  do  it,"  said  Tommy  Flan 
ders.  He  was  glad  of  the  run,  yet  tremendously 
chagrined  to  think  that  he  had  not  been  permitted 
to  score. 

"Now  we've  got  to  tie  that  score  or  better," 
said  Gif,  when  the  Colby  Hall  boys  came  to  the 
bat. 

All  of  those  who  came  up,  including  Fred  and 
Jack,  did  their  best,  but  were  unable  to  get  fur 
ther  than  first  or  second. 

"Hurrah !  That's  the  stuff !"  cried  Pete  Stev 
ens.  "Let  us  hold  'em  down  to  a  whitewash !" 

"Sure  I'll  hold  'em  down!"  boasted  Tommy 
Flanders.  "Not  a  one  of  'em  are  going  to  see 
the  home  plate  off  of  me  to-day." 

"He'll  certainly  win  the  game  if  conceit  can 
do  it,"  murmured  Ned  Lowe  in  disgust. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  so  far  Tommy  Flan 
ders  had  done  wonderfully  well.  But  there  were 


A  GLORIOUS  VICTORY  I0i 

signs  that  he  was  overdoing  it  by  pitching  too 
hard. 

"I  think  he'll  break  before  the  game  is  over," 
said  Dan. 

"Just  my  opinion,"  returned  Walt  Baxter.  "No 
young  pitcher  can  stand  up  under  such  a  strain 
as  that." 

The  break  they  had  looked  for  came  in  the 
eighth  inning.  By  a  supreme  effort  Longley  man 
aged,  on  a  fumble  by  one  of  the  new  players  for 
Colby  Hall,  to  bring  in  another  run,  at  which 
the  cheering  on  their  side  was  tremendous. 

"That's  the  stuff!  Two  to  nothing!  Wallop 
'em  good  and  plenty,  Longley!" 

"We'll  wallop  'em  all  right  enough,"  exulted 
Tommy  Flanders.  "They  are  going  to  get  the 
worst  whitewashing  they  ever  had — you  mark  my 
words." 

Alas  for  the  conceited  young  pitcher!  His 
overconfidence  made  him  a  trifle  wild,  and  almost 
before  he  realized  it  the  first  Colby  Hall  batter 
had  got  a  safe  hit  to  first  and  the  second  man 
up  went  to  first  on  balls,  advancing  the  other 
to  second. 

"Tighten  up  there,  Tommy!  Tighten  up!" 
called  out  one  of  the  Longley  sympathizers. 

"I'll  tighten  up,  all  right  enough,"  answered 
Flanders,  with  a  scowl. 


102    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

The  next  player  up  got  another  single,  the  ball 
being  fumbled  by  the  fielder,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  bases  were  filled. 

"Be  careful,  Tommy!"  cautioned  the  Longley 
captain,  as  he  came  up  to  the  pitcher.  "Be  care 
ful!  We  don't  want  to  spoil  the  score." 

"They  won't  get  in.  You  just  watch  me  and 
see,"  answered  Flanders,  and  scowled  more  than 
ever. 

He  did  tighten  up  a  little,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  next  batter  up  went  out  on  strikes  and  the 
following  player  on  a  foul  fly. 

"Hurrah !  Two  out !  Hold  'em  down !  Don't 
let  'em  score !" 

The  next  batter  up  was  Fred.  So  far  the 
youngest  Rover  had  been  unable  to  get  further 
than  first. 

"Oh,  Fred,  line  it  out!  Please  line  it  out!" 
cried  May  Powell,  and  then  she  blushed  furiously 
as  a  number  sitting  near  her  began  to  laugh. 

"Don't  you  care,  May,"  consoled  Mary,  and 
then  she  called  out  loudly :  "Do  your  best,  Fred ! 
Do  your  best!" 

"Go  in  and  win !"  cried  Martha. 

There  had  been  a  tremendous  racket,  but  now, 
as  Fred  gripped  his  ashen  stick  and  Tommy  Flan 
ders  prepared  to  deliver  the  ball,  a  deathlike  si 
lence  came  over  the  field.  Every  one  of  the  men 


A  GLORIOUS  VICTORY 


103 


on  the  bases  was  prepared  to  leg  it  at  the  slightest 
chance  of  being  able  to  score. 

The  first  ball  to  come  in  was  too  high,  and 

the  second  too  low,  so  Fred  let  them  go  by.  Then, 

however,  came  a  straight  ball  just  where  he  want- 

ked  it,  and  Fred  swung  at  it  with  every  ounce  of 

muscle  in  his  body. 

Crack !  The  report  could  be  heard  all  over  the 
grounds,  and  then  the  sphere  could  be  seen  sail 
ing  far  off  into  left  field. 

"Run,  boys,  run!     Everybody  run!" 

"Leg  it  for  all  you  are  worth !" 

"It's  a  three-bagger,  sure !" 

"No,  it  isn't !  It's  a  homer !  Run,  boys !  Run ! 
Run!  Run!" 

The  crowd  was  now  on  its  feet  yelling  and 
cheering  at  the  top  of  its  lungs  and  throwing  caps 
and  banners  into  the  air,  and  while  the  left  fielder 
was  chasing  madly  after  the  bounding  ball,  the 
three  men  on  bases  came  in  one  after  another,  fol 
lowed  swiftly  by  the  panting  and  blowing  Rover 
boy. 

"Hi!  Hi!  Hi!  What  do  you  know  about 
that !  Four  runs !" 

"That's  the  way  to  do  it,  Colby!    Keep  it  up!" 

"You've  got  the  Longley  pitcher  going!"  cried 
Spouter  at  the  top  of  his  lungs.  "Give  us  a  few 
more  home  runs!  They'll  be  easy!" 


104  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Take  Flanders  out !"  said  one  of  the  Academy 
boys  in  disgust.  "He's  beginning  to  weaken." 

While  the  din  and  excitement  continued  the 
Academy  captain  went  up  to  talk  to  the  pitcher. 

"Don't  you  think  we  had  better  make  a  change, 
Tommy?"  he  questioned  anxiously. 

"No,  I  don't !"  roared  Flanders  angrily.  "That 
home  run  was  a  fluke,  that's  all.  I'll  hold  'em 
down,  you  wait  and  see." 

There  were  wild  cries  to  change  the  pitcher  on 
the  part  of  the  Longley  students,  while  the  mili 
tary  academy  cadets  yelled  themselves  hoarse  tell 
ing  their  nine  to  "bat  Flanders  out  of  the  box." 

Walt  Baxter  was  now  up,  and  managed  to  get 
to  second.  Then  came  Jack  with  a  single  that 
took  him  safely  to  first  and  advanced  Walt  to 
third. 

"Say,  Tommy,  you'd  better  give  it  up,"  whis 
pered  the  Longley  captain,  as  he  came  to  the  box. 

"I'll  hold  'em !  Just  give  me  one  chance  more/' 
answered  Flanders  desperately. 

And  then  came  the  real  break.  The  next  player1 
up  got  what  would  have  been  a  two-base  hit,  but 
the  ball  was  fumbled,  and  as  a  consequence  the 
man  got  home,  chasing  the  other  two  runners  in 
ahead  of  him. 

"Hurrah!  What  do  you  loiow  about  that! 
Seven  runs!" 


A  GLORIOUS  VICTORY  105 

"That's  the  way  to  do  it!  Hurrah  for  Colby 
Hall!" 

"You've  got  'em  a-going,  boys,  give  it  to  'em 
good  and  plenty!" 

The  excitement  was  now  greater  than  ever,  and 
all,  including  the  girls  from  Clearwater  Hall, 
were  shouting  themselves  hoarse,  tooting  tin 
horns,  shaking  rattles,  and  throwing  caps  and 
other  things  into  the  air. 

"Take  him  out!     Take  Flanders  out!" 

"Out  with  Flanders!     Out  with  him!" 

"He  should  have  been  taken  out  before!" 

"All  right — finish  the  game  without  me!" 
roared  Tommy  Flanders  in  disgust,  and,  throw 
ing  down  the  ball,  he  strode  from  the  field  and 
into  one  of  the  dressing-rooms. 

"Gee,  but  he's  sore !"  was  Randy's  comment. 

"That  ought  to  take  some  of  the  conceit  out 
of  him,"  added  Andy. 

The  new  pitcher  was  a  left-hander  who  had 
rather  a  puzzling  delivery,  and  he  managed  to 
retire  the  side  without  any  more  runs,  so  that  at 
the  end  of  the  eighth  inning  the  score  stood  7  to 
2  in  favor  of  Colby  Hall. 

"Now  then,  pull  yourselves  together,"  ordered 
the  Longley  captain,  when  his  side  came  up  to 
the  bat  for  the  last  time. 

AU  of  those  who  came  to  the  plate  did  their 


106    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

best,  but  Jack  was  on  his  mettle,  and  though  his 
swollen  hand  hurt  him  not  a  little,  he  played  with 
all  the  coolness,  strength  and  ingenuity  which  he 
possessed.  As  a  consequence,  although  he  al 
lowed  two  single  hits,  none  of  the  Longley  boys 
got  further  than  third. 

"Hurrah !     Colby  Hall  wins !" 

And  then  what  a  celebration  ensued  among  the 
cadets  who  had  won  the  game  and  their  many 
supporters ! 


CHAPTER   XI 

BONFIRE     NIGHT 

SUCH  a  glorious  baseball  victory  as  this  could 
not  be  passed  off  lightly  by  the  cadets  of  Colby 
Hall.  They  arranged  for  a  grand  celebration  that 
night,  with  bonfires  along  the  river  front  and  a 
generous  collation  served  in  the  gymnasium. 
They  were  allowed  to  invite  a  few  of  their  boy 
friends,  and  all  made  the  most  of  it. 

"It's  a  pity  we  can't  have  you  girls,"  said  Jack, 
when  they  were  parting  with  Ruth  and  the  others. 

"Never  mind,  Jack;  I'm  happy  to  think  that 
you  won  the  game,"  answered  the  girl. 

"Yes,  and  we're  extra  happy  to  think  that  you 
got  the  best  of  that  awfully  conceited  Tommy 
Flanders,"  added  May. 

Late  in  the  evening  the  boys  cut  loose  to  their 
hearts'  content,  neither  Colonel  Colby  nor  Captain. 
Dale  having  a  mind  to  stop  them. 

There  were  only  two  boys  in  the  school  who 
did  not  appreciate  the  celebration.  One  was  Sto- 
well,  who  was  caught  by  some  of  his  tormentors 

107 


log    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

and  dusted  from  head  to  foot  with  flour,  and 
Leeds,  who  had  been  so  pessimistic  regarding  the 
school  winning.  Leeds  had  said  altogether  too 
much,  and  as  a  consequence  a  big  fool's  cap  was 
placed  on  his  head  and  he  was  marched  around 
the  campus  riding  on  a  rail  and  then  dumped  un 
ceremoniously  into  the  river. 

"And  don't  you  dare  swim  out  until  you  prom 
ise  after  this  to  believe  in  Colby  Hall  and  root 
for  her  first,  last,  and  all  the  time !"  shouted  one 
of  the  cadets  on  the  shore. 

"All  right,  I'll  promise!  I'll  promise  anything!" 
spluttered  Leeds.  "Only  let  me  get  out  of  this." 
And  then  he  climbed  up  the  river  bank  and,  drip 
ping  with  water,  made  a  wild  rush  for  the  back 
entrance  to  the  school. 

Of  course  there  was  a  good  deal  more  of  horse 
play,  and  it  can  be  surmised  that  Andy  and 
Randy  went  in  for  their  full  share  of  it.  Even 
Job  Plunger  was  caught  by  the  crowd  and  hoisted 
on  the  top  of  a  barrel  which  was  waiting  to  be 
placed  on  one  of  the  bonfires. 

"Speech,  Shout!     Speech!"  cried  Andy  gaily. 

"Tell  us  what  you  know  about  ball  playing  in 
the  olden  times,"  suggested  Ned  Lowe. 

"You  let  me  down  off  of  this  barrel!"  cried 
Plunger,  in  alarm.  "You  let  me  down  before  this 
barrel  caves  in!"  and  poor  Shout,  as  he  was  so 


BONFIRE  NIGHT  109 

often  called,  looked  anything  but  comfortable  as 
he  balanced  himself  on  the  top  of  the  barrel. 

"We've  got  to  have  a  speech,  Shout.  Come  on, 
you  know  you  are  a  first-class  talker  when  you 
get  at  it." 

"What  is  it  you  boys  want?"  demanded  the 
janitor,  with  his  hand  over  his  ear. 

"Give  us  a  speech,  a  speech!" 

"Teach!  I  never  did  teach!  What  are  you 
talking  about  ?" 

"We  didn't  say  teach!"  screamed  Andy.  "We 
said  speech — talk — words — sentences — speech !" 

"Oh,  you  want  me  to  make  a  speech,"  and 
Plunger  looked  rather  vacantly  at  the  crowd.  "I 
can't  do  it.  I  ain't  got  nothing  to  say.  I  want 
you  to  let  me  go.  I've  got  a  lot  of  work  to  do, 
with  cleaning  up  that  mess  in  the  gym,  not  to  say 
anything  about  the  mess  you  fellers  made  down 
to  the  barn  getting  that  stuff  out  for  them  fires." 

"If  he  won't  give  us  a  speech,  let  us  give  him  a 
ride,"  cried  Dan  Soppinger. 

"What  shall  we  ride  him  in?"  questioned  Walt 
Baxter. 

"I've  got  it!"  burst  out  Andy  quickly.  "Just 
keep  him  here  a  few  minutes  longer,  fellows. 
Come  on,  Randy,  quick!" 

Sure  that  something  was  in  the  wind,  Randy 
followed  his  brother  out  of  the  crowd  and  both 


1 10  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

made  their  way  toward  the  back  end  of  the  gym 
nasium.  Here  there  was  a  room  in  which  Si 
Crews,  the  gymnastic  instructor,  kept  a  number 
of  his  personal  belongings.  Si  had  been  the  in 
structor  since  Colby  Hall  had  been  opened,  and 
his  wife  was  the  matron  for  the  smaller  boys. 

"Mrs.  Crews  has  a  baby  carriage  belonging  to 
her  sister  stored  away  in  that  room,"  explained 
Andy,  as  he  and  his  brother  hurried  on.  "I  saw 
them  put  it  there  only  a  few  days  ago.  It's  a 
rather  old  affair,  but  I  think  it  is  strong  enough 
to  give  Shout  a  ride  in." 

The  lads  found  the  door  to  the  storeroom  un 
locked,  and  by  lighting  a  match  saw  the  baby 
carriage  standing  there  just  as  left  by  Mrs. 
Crews.  It  contained  a  pillow,  and  also  a  baby 
shawl  and  a  cap. 

"Hurrah !  now  we'll  be  able  to  dress  Shout  up 
for  the  ride,"  said  Randy  gaily. 

It  took  but  a  few  minutes  to  haul  the  baby 
carriage  out  and  start  it  on  its  way  down  to 
where  the  crowd  surrounded  the  school  janitor. 
A  shout  of  satisfaction  went  up  when  the  other 
cadets  saw  the  little  vehicle,  and  another  shout 
arose  when  Andy  picked  up  the  shawl  and  Randy 
followed  with  the  baby  cap. 

"Here  you  are,  Shout!"  came  from  Walt  Bax 
ter.  "Now  we'll  be  able  to  dress  you  up  fine  for 


BONFIRE  NIGHT  III 

your  ride,"  and  before  the  astonished  and  be 
wildered  janitor  could  resist,  he  was  hoisted  from 
the  barrel  and  placed  in  the  baby  carriage,  where 
the  lads  proceeded  not  only  to  strap  him  in  but 
also  to  tie  him  down  with  a  bit  of  clothesline 
which  was  handy.  Then  they  tied  the  baby  cap 
on  his  head  and  pinned  the  shawl  around  his 
shoulders. 

"Music !  Music  for  the  procession !"  called  out 
Fatty  Hendry.  "Somebody  got  a  drum  and  fife !" 
and  immediately  several  of  the  cadets  ran  off  to 
do  as  bidden. 

In  a  few  minutes  more  the  procession  started, 
headed  by  two  boys  carrying  torches  and  followed 
by  a  youth  with  a  bass  drum  and  another  with  a 
fife.  Back  of  them  came  the  baby  carriage  drawn 
by  a  full  dozen  of  cadets  and  steered  in  the  rear 
by  Andy  and  Randy.  On  each  side  of  the  car 
riage  marched  a  cadet  with  a  torch,  so  that  the 
curious  turnout  might  be  properly  illuminated.  In 
the  rear  was  a  motley  collection,  laughing  and 
joking  and  cutting  up  generally. 

"Hi,  you!  You  let  me  go!  I  don't  want  no 
ride !"  cried  Plunger  wildly.  "This  ain't  no  way 
to  treat  me  at  all !" 

"Oh,  you  need  the  air,  Shout,"  answered 
Randy.  "Besides,  see  the  shoeleather  you  are  go 
ing  to  save  by  getting  a  ride  instead  of  walking." 


112    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

The  poor  janitor  struggled  to  free  himself,  but 
all  in  vain,  and  to  the  noise  of  the  drum  and  the 
fife  and  with  many  shouts  of  laughter  the  whole 
outfit  moved  around  the  school  twice  and  then 
around  the  gymnasium. 

"And  now  for  a  final  celebration!"  exclaimed 
Randy,  when  the  crowd  came  to  a  halt  near  the 
river  front.  "Everybody  attention!  One — two 
— three !  Listen  to  the  stillness !" 

Wondering  what  was  going  to  happen  next,  all 
came  to  a  standstill  and  listened. 

Bang! 

A  large  firecracker  set  off  directly  under  the 
baby  carriage  flew  in  all  directions.  As  it  went 
off  poor  Plunger  gave  a  shriek  of  terror  and  then 
tried  so  hard  to  free  himself  that  the  carriage 
was  overturned  and  he  found  himself  snarled  up 
in  a  bunch  on  the  grass.  Then  the  boys,  not 
wishing  to  see  the  man  hurt,  rushed  forward  and 
released  him,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  disappearing 
inside  the  gymnasium. 

"Hurrah !  that  was  a  grand  finale,"  cried  Fred. 
"Where  did  you  get  the  firecracker,  Andy?" 

"It  was  out  of  a  bunch  I  bought  for  the  Fourth 
of  July,"  was  the  reply. 

After  this  celebration  matters  moved  along 
swiftly  toward  the  close  of  the  term.  During 
that  time  the  Rover  boys  heard  from  their  mothers 


BONFIRE  NIGHT  113 

in  New  York  that  their  fathers  were  expected 
home  in  about  ten  days.  They  immediately  called 
up  the  girls  at  Clearwater  Hall,  and  learned  that 
Mary  and  Martha  had  received  the  same  news. 

"And  won't  I  be  glad  to  go  home  and  see  dad !" 
said  Martha  to  her  brother. 

"No  more  glad  than  I'll  be,"  he  returned 
quickly. 

It  was  now  early  Summer,  and  many  of  the 
cadets  were  in  the  habit  of  spending  a  part  of 
their  off  time  either  bathing  or  rowing.  Before 
going  to  war  Colonel  Colby  had  promised  to  get 
two  motor-boats  for  the  use  of  the  cadets,  but  as 
yet  these  had  not  been  purchased.  But  rowboats 
were  numerous. 

"I'll  have  the  motor-boats  here  by  Fall,  how 
ever,"  said  Colonel  Colby,  in  speaking  of  this. 
"And  then  you  can  have  a  lot  of  fun  with  them." 

There  was  one  more  Saturday  to  be  spent  at 
school  before  breaking  up  for  the  term,  and  the 
Rovers  and  their  chums  had  decided  to  spend 
that  afternoon  with  the  girls  in  an  outing  on  the 
lake. 

"Mary  and  some  of  the  others  want  to  go  over 
to  Bluebell  Island,"  said  Fred.  "They  say  there 
are  some  very  fine  ferns  to  be  had  there,  and 
they  thought  maybe  they  would  have  a  chance  to 
take  some  of  the  ferns  home." 


II4    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"All  right,  we'll  take  them  wherever  tbey  want 
to  go,"  answered  Jack;  and  so  it  was  arranged. 

Bluebell  Island  was  located  a  distance  down 
the  lake,  not  far  from  Foxtail  Island,  where  the 
young  folks  had  previously  had  an  outing,  as 
related  in  the  volume  entitled,  "The  Rover  Boys 
at  Colby  Hall." 

At  that  time  a  squall  on  the  lake  and  an  en 
counter  with  a  log  raft  had  placed  all  of  the 
young  people  in  great  peril,  from  which  Slugger 
Brown  and  Nappy  Martell  had  refused  to  rescue 
them. 

It  had  been  decided  that  the  boys  should  row 
from  Colby  Hall  down  the  lake  to  the  dock  at 
Clearwater  Hall  and  there  take  the  girls  on  board. 
They  had  three  boats,  one  containing  Jack  and 
Fred,  another  the  twins,  and  a  third  Gif  and 
Spouter. 

"It's  certainly  one  grand  day  for  this  outing," 
remarked  Fred,  as  they  set  off.  All  were  good 
oarsmen,  so  the  rowboats  made  rapid  progress  in 
the  direction  of  the  girls'  school. 

"I  had  the  day  made  to  order,"  sang  out  Andy. 
And  then  he  added,  with  a  grin :  "It  never  rains 
when  I  go  out  unless  the  water  happens  to  be 
coming  down." 

The  cadets  had  informed  Martha  and  the  oth 
ers  when  they  would  arrive,  and  when  they 


BONFIRE  NIGHT 

reached  the  dock  they  found  six  girls  waiting  for 
them,  each  with  a  carefully-tied-up  shoebox  under 
her  arm. 

"Yum,  yum!  I  smell  something  good  to  eat!" 
exclaimed  Andy,  on  catching  sight  of  the  boxes. 

"Got  any  mustard  pie?"  added  Randy.  "Ex 
cuse  me,  I  mean  custard  pie." 

"No,  we've  got  straw  pie  for  you,  Mr.  Smarty," 
called  out  Alice  Strobell. 

Jack  noticed  that  Martha  and  Mary  looked 
rather  thoughtful  when  they  got  into  the  row- 
boat  manned  by  Spouter  and  Gif . 

"Anything  wrong?"  he  asked  anxiously. 

"Not  much,  Jack,"  answered  his  sister.  "I'll 
tell  you  just  as  soon  as  we  get  to  the  island  and 
we  have  a  chance." 

"Didn't  you  boys  bring  anything?"  questioned 
Mary  of  the  other  Rovers. 

"Sure  we  did!  But  that's  a  surprise,"  an- 
iswered  Fred.  They  had  brought  fruit  and  candy. 

"We  brought  two  yeast  cakes  and  a  fried-onion 
sandwich,"  broke  in  Andy  gaily,  and  at  this  all  the 
girls  giggled. 

Ruth  and  May  were  made  comfortable  in  the 
boat  rowed  by  Jack  and  Fred,  and  they  at  once 
set  off  in  the  direction  of  Bluebell  Island.  The 
others  shortly  followed,  and  all  made  good  time 
across  the  placid  bosom  of  Clearwater  Lake. 


H6  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"I  hope  we  don't  encounter  such  a  squall  as  we 
did  before,"  remarked  Ruth  presently. 

"Oh,  I'm  sure  it  will  stay  clear,"  Jack  hastened 
to  reassure  her. 

In  less  than  half  an  hour  the  young  folks  found 
themselves  safe  on  the  island,  which  was  about 
thirty  acres  in  extent,  with  a  grassy  slope  on  one 
side  and  rocks,  trees  and  brushwood  on  the  other. 
They  tied  their  boats  securely,  and  then  proceeded 
to  walk  across  the  island  to  where  they  might 
take  it  easy  under  the  trees  or  hunt  for  the  ferns 
the  girls  desired  to  get. 

"Now  then,  what  is  it  that  is  troubling  you?" 
asked  Jack  of  his  sister  as  soon  as  he  could  speak 
to  Martha  without  the  others  noticing. 

"Oh,  Jack,  I  don't  know  whether  it  ought  to 
trouble  me  or  not,"  answered  Martha.  "It  was 
such  a  surprise.  I  didn't  dream  that  those  two 
fellows  would  show  themselves  around  Clearwater 
Hall." 

"Who  are  you  talking  about,  Martha?" 

"Bill  Glutts  and  Gabe  Werner." 

"When  did  you  see  them  ?" 

"I  saw  them  yesterday,  and  Mary  saw  them 
early  this  morning." 


CHAPTER   XII 

ON    BLUEBELL    ISLAND 

JACK  ROVER  was  much  surprised  over  the  state^ 
merit  made  by  his  sister  Martha.  Bill  Glutts  had 
not  returned  to  Colby  Hall  after  his  unfortunate 
experiences  in  the  woods  the  Winter  previous,  nor 
had  Gabe  Werner  shown  himself  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  military  academy. 

"Have  you  any  idea  what  they  were  doing 
around  Clearwater  Hall?"  he  questioned. 

"I  have  not,  Jack.  But  I  feel  sure  they  wen/ 
not  up  to  anything  good." 

"Did  they  say  anything  to  either  of  you?" 

"Oh,  no.  As  soon  as  I  saw  them  they  sprang 
out  of  sight  behind  some  trees,  and  this  morn 
ing,  when  they  caught  sight  of  Mary,  they  hur 
ried  off  in  the  direction  of  Haven  Point." 

"I  think  I  had  better  tell  the  others  about  this, 
then  we  can  all  be  on  our  guard.  Those  fellows 
do  not  belong  anywhere  near  Haven  Point,  and 
in  my  opinion  they  cannot  be  here  for  any  good 
purpose."  Jack  was  thinking  of  the  anonymous 

117 


Il8    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK  * 

letter  which  had  been  received  and  which  he  now 
felt  certain  had  been  penned  by  Werner. 

"If  you  tell  the  others  now  it  will  spoil  the 
whole  outing,"  pouted  Martha.  "Why  don't  you 
wait  until  to-night?" 

"All  right,  I'll  do  that.  And  when  you  girls 
are  by  yourselves  you  and  Mary  must  tell  the 
others."  And  so  it  was  agreed. 

Those  ahead  had  already  reached  the  vicinity 
of  the  rocks  and  trees,  and  now  began  a  diligent 
hunt  by  all  for  the  rare  ferns  said  to  be  growing 
there. 

"Our  idea  was  to  empty  the  lunch  from  the 
shoeboxes  and  then  fill  the  boxes  with  ferns,"  said 
Ruth. 

The  girls  had  brought  a  tablecloth  with  them 
to  spread  on  the  ground,  and  the  entire  lunch  was 
'placed  in  this  and  then  wrapped  in  a  newspaper 
and  placed  on  a  flat  rock. 

"I  wonder  if  the  squirrels  will  bother  the 
lunch  ?"  questioned  Fred.  They  had  noted  several 
of  the  frisky  little  animals  flitting  from  tree  to 
tree  as  they  walked  along1. 

"The  squirrels  want  nuts.  I  don't  think  they 
care  for  mustard  sandwiches  and  onion  cake," 
cried  Andy.  "Gee!  but  it  feels  good  to  be  out 
here,"  he  went  on,  and,  leaping  up,  he  grasped 
the  limb  of  a  low-growing  tree  and  went  through 


ON  BLUEBELL  ISLAND  119 

the  performance  generally  known  as  "skinning 
the  cat." 

"Oh,  Andy,  do  te  careful !"  called  out  his  cousin 
Mary.  "First  thing  you  know  you'll  twist  your 
arms  off." 

"Oh,  I  do  this  every  morning  before  I  wake 
up,"  answered  the  fun-loving  Rover  cheerfully. 

"I'll  get  him  down!"  cried  Randy,  and,  taking 
up  a  handful  of  dead  leaves,  he  threw  them  at  his 
twin.  Andy  promptly  gave  a  swing,  let  go  of  the 
tree,  and  landed  on  his  brother's  shoulders,  and 
both  went  down  to  the  ground,  there  to  roll  over, 
and  over,  kicking  the  dead  leaves  in  all  directions. 

"Hi,  you !"  cried  Jack  sternly.  "What  sort  of 
a  ladies'  exhibition  is  this !  Get  up  there  before 
I  yank  you  up !" 

" You'll  have  those  beautiful  suits  ruined," 
came  from  Annie  Larkins. 

The  search  for  the  rare  ferns  then  began  in 
earnest,  and  this  led  them  through  the  woods  and 
around  a  great  number  of  sharp  rocks  and  a  con 
siderable  distance  away  from  where  the  things 
to  eat  had  been  left. 

"Here  is  one,"  called  Ruth  presently,  and 
pointed  it  out. 

The  girls  had  brought  trowels  with  them,  and 
now  Jack  lost  no  time  in  digging  up  the  fern  and 
placing  it  in  the  corner  of  one  of  the  boxes. 


120    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

eral  other  plants  were  located  nearby,  and  all  the 
boys  and  girls  were  soon  busy.  Some  of  the 
ferns  were  quite  small,  but  others  were  of  good 
size,  and  all  showed  up  well  when  grouped  to 
gether. 

"We  have  a  little  fernery  at  home,"  explained 
Ruth.  "Last  winter  the  plants  did  not  do  so 
well,  and  these  will  therefore  come  in  very  nicely. 
I'm  sure  my  folks  will  be  pleased  to  see  them." 

"I  suppose  Uncle  Barney  is  now  living  with 
you,  Ruth,"  said  Jack. 

"Oh,  yes.  And  he  is  very  thankful  for  all  you 
Rovers  did  for  him  that  Winter,"  answered  the 
girl,  referring  to  the  happenings  which  have  been 
related  in  detail  in  "The  Rover  Boys  on  Snow- 
shoe  Island." 

"Here  is  a  different  kind  of  fern,"  announced 
Martha,  a  minute  later. 

"Let  me  get  it  for  you!"  cried  Gif,  pressing 
forward  to  assist  her. 

"It's  right  down  there  between  those  big  rocks, 
Gif.  Be  careful  that  you  don't  push  one  of  the 
stones  over  on  your  fingers." 

"Don't  ruin  the  whole  island  getting  up  one 
fern,  Gif!"  exclaimed  Andy,  as  the  athletic  stu-, 
dent  pushed  away  a  couple  of  rocks  which  pre 
vented  his  getting  at  the  fern. 

There  was  another  rock  in  the  way — one  that 


ON  BLUEBELL  ISLAND  121 

rested  partly  over  the  roots  of  the  fern,  which 
looked  like  an  unusually  healthy  plant.  Gif 
tugged  at  this  rock  and  Fred  bent  forward  to 
assist  him.  Then,  all  of  a  sudden,  the  rock  came 
out  from  the  split  in  which  it  lay,  and  both  cadets 
slipped  and  fell  on  their  backs. 

"Oh,  do  be  careful !  You'll  have  one  of  those 
rocks  on  your  toes,  sure!"  cried  Ruth. 

She  had  scarcely  spoken  when  there  came  a 
scream  from  May  Powell  and  Alice  Strobell. 

"A  snake!     A  snake!" 

"He's  coming  for  us !" 

"Run!  Run,  everybody,  before  the  snake  bites 
you!" 

Such  were  some  of  the  cries  that  rent  the  air 
as  all  of  the  young  people  fell  back. 

A  black  snake  at  least  three  feet  long  had  sud 
denly  appeared  from  a  hollow  under  the  last  rock 
to  be  dislodged,  and  this  was  quickly  followed  by 
a  second  snake  equally  large. 

"Hit  'em,  boys !  Hit  'em !"  exclaimed  Jack,  as 
soon  as  he  had  recovered  from  his  surprise,  and 
as  he  spoke  he  caught  up  a  stone  and  flung  it  at 
the  nearest  snake. 

The  action  of  the  oldest  Rover  boy  was  quickly 
seconded  by  the  other  cadets,  and  a  dozen  or  more 
stones  were  hurled  at  the  two  snakes.  One  of  the 
reptiles  was  quickly  killed,  but  the  second  received 


122  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

only  a  bruise  on  its  tail,  and  it  switched  around 
angrily  and  then  made  a  dash  toward  the  fleeing 
and  screaming  girls. 

"Gee!  if  we  only  had  a  pistol  or  a  gun!"  ex 
claimed  Randy. 

The  snake  still  left  alive  was  but  a  few  feet 
from  Martha  and  Ruth  when  Jack  and  Spouter 
hurled  two  more  stones.  Each  of  these  reached 
its  mark,  and  with  its  back  crushed  the  reptile 
whipped  around  on  the  rocks  for  a  moment  more 
and  then  lay  still. 

"Oh,  dear !  is  it  dead  ?"  questioned  Martha,  and 
her  voice  trembled  a  little  as  she  spoke. 

"Dead  as  a  doormat,"  announced  her  brother, 
after  a  hasty  examination.  Then  he  took  a  stick 
and,  placing  it  under  the  reptile,  threw  the  remains 
from  the  rocks  into  the  lake.  Fred  and  Andy 
speedily  disposed  of  the  other  reptile  in  the  same 
way. 

"Maybe  there  are  more  snakes  around  here!" 
cried  Alice  Strobell  nervously. 

"If  there  are,  I'm  sure  I  don't  want  to  stay 
here  any  longer,"  added  Annie  Larkins. 

"Who  would  dream  of  digging  up  snakes  on, 
this  island?"  murmured  Martha.  "Oh,  it  takes 
away  all  the  fun  of  gathering  ferns." 

"Nevertheless,  I  am  going  to  get  that  fern  for 
you,"  announced  Gif. 


ON  BLUEBELL  ISLAND  123 

"But,  Gif,  there  may  be  more  snakes  around 
that  hole." 

"Well,  I'll  take  a  chance.  I  don't  think  they 
are  very  dangerous,  anyhow,"  answered  the  ath 
letic  cadet. 

"Be  on  your  guard,  Gif,"  warned  Jack,  and 
then  armed  himself  with  several  stones,  and  the 
other  cadets  did  the  same. 

Gif  approached  the  spot  with  caution  and  be 
gan  to  dig  up  the  fern  Martha  had  wanted.  The 
other  boys  came  quite  close,  but  the  girls  kept 
their  distance.  No  other  snakes  appeared,  and 
soon  Gif  had  the  fern,  which  he  took  pleasure  in 
presenting  to  Jack's  sister. 

"Thank  you,  Gif,"  she  said  politely.  "It  cer 
tainly  is  a  beautiful  fern,  and  I'll  do  my  best  to 
preserve  it.  But  I  think  every  time  I  look  at  it 
I'll  remember  those  snakes."  j 

"Oh,  you  mustn't  mind  anything  like  that, 
Martha.  Why,  we've  met  dozens  of  little  snakes 
on  our  tours.  I  don't  believe  they'd  hurt  you." 

"Maybe  not,  Gif ;  but  they're  such  awful  crawly 
things !" 

"I'm  afraid  I'd  die  if  a  snake  touched  me/r 
added  Alice  Strobell,  with  a  shudder. 

For  a  while  the  snake  episode  put  a  damper  on 
the  outing.  But  the  boys  did  their  best  to  make 
the  girls  forget  it,  and  after  a  while  all 


124    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

hunting  as  diligently  as  before  far  ferns.  They 
found  a  varied  collection,  and  took  delight  in 
filling  the  shoeboxes  with  the  plants,  filling  in  the 
tops  of  the  boxes  with  moss. 

"Oh,  my!  Half -past  three  already!"  declared 
Ruth  presently,  as  she  consulted  her  pretty  little 
wrist-watch. 

"As  late  as  that?"  returned  Martha. 

"Perhaps  we  had  better  go  back  and  have  our 
lunch,"  suggested  Mary. 

All  were  willing,  for  climbing  around  the  rocks 
had  made  the  young  folks  hungry.  Mary  and 
Spouter  led  the  way  back,  with  the  others  strag 
gling  behind. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  this  summer.  Jack  ?" 
questioned  Ruth  on  the  way. 

"We  haven't  made  any  plans  yet,  Ruth.  I  want 
to  see  my  father  first  of  all." 

"I  don't  blame  you  for  that.  You  must  be 
glad  to  think  he  is  coming  back  safe  and  sound. 
And  just  to  think  that  he  won  a  medal !  Isn't  it 
perfectly  wonderful !"  and  her  eyes  beamed  with 
pleasure. 

\  "It  sure  is !  Oh,  my  dad's  a  wonderful  man — 
the  best  in  the  world !"  answered  the  young  cap 
tain  enthusiastically.  And  then  he  added :  "Have 
your  folks  decided  to  go  down  on  the  Jersey- 
shore?" 


ON  BLUEBELL  ISLAND  12$ 

"It's  about  settled.  I'll  know  for  sure  when  I 
get  home  next  week." 

"You  mustn't  forget  to  write,  Ruth." 

"And  how  about  yourself?" 

"Oh,  you'll  hear  from  me,  don't  worry  about 
that,"  answered  Jack  quickly. 

"If  you  go  up  to  Valley  Brook  Farm  this  sum 
mer "  began  Ruth,  when  a  sudden  cry  ahead 

made  her  pause.  "What  was  that,  Jack?"  she 
asked  quickly. 

"I  don't  know,  but  I  guess  something  has  gone 
wrong." 

"Maybe  the  squirrels  or  a  fox  or  some  other 
wild  animal  got  at  the  lunch." 

"Phew !  that  would  be  too  bad !  Come  on  and 
see  what  is  wrong." 

The  pair  had  fallen  behind  the  others,  and 
now  they  ran  forward  through  the  woods  and 
around  the  rocks  as  rapidly  as  they  could.  As 
they  did  this  there  came  a  call  from  Andy: 

"Hi,  there,  Jack!  Where  are  you?  Look  out 
for  Gabe  Werner  and  Bill  Glutts!  Don't  let 
them  get  away !" 

"Werner  and  Glutts !"  repeated  the  young  cap 
tain.  "What  brought  them  to  this  island  ?" 

"Catch  them !  Catch  them !"  came  in  a  scream 
from  Martha.  "They  are  making  off  with  all 
our  lunch !" 


126  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Drop  that  stuff,  Werner!"  Jack  heard  Randy 
call  out.  , 

"Come  on  after  them,  everybody!"  yelled  Gif. 
"They  sha'n't  get  away  with  those  good  things — 
not  if  I  know  it!" 

There  was  a  rush  through  the  trees,  and  the 
calls  and  cries  increased.  The  girls  did  not  take 
part  in  the  chase,  feeling  that  the  two  former 
bullies  of  Colby  Hall  might  do  them  harm. 

"Oh,  dear,  Jack !  do  you  really  think  that  they 
made  off  with  all  that  lunch?"  sighed  Ruth. 

"Sounds  like  it,"  he  answered.  "I  wonder 
where  they  are?"  He  ran  around  some  high 
rocks  which  cut  off  a  view  of  what  was  beyond, 
and  then  leaped  over  some  low  bushes.  Not  to 
be  left  alone  in  the  woods,  Ruth  followed  close 
at  his  heels. 

The  next  instant  Jack  saw  Bill  Glutts  running 
in  one  direction  and  Gabe  Werner  legging  it  in 
another.  Bill  Glutts  carried  the  tablecloth  with  a 
good  portion  of  the  things  to  eat  still  in  it,  while 
Gabe  Werner  held  the  newspaper  with  the  re 
maining  things. 

"Stop !"  ordered  Jack,  and  then,  as  he  saw  Gif 
and  Randy  chase  Glutts,  he  made  a  wild  dash  after 
Gabe  Werner. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

WERNER'S  ATTACK 

"HOLD  on,  Bill  Glutts !"  cried  Randy,  as  he  ran 
after  the  youth  whom  he  had  not  seen  since  the 
Winter  before. 

"You  leave  me  alone!"  returned  Glutts,  and 
then,  in  order  to  run  faster,  he  dropped  the  bundle 
he  was  carrying. 

"Don't  let  him  get  away !"  burst  out  Fred,  and 
made  a  wild  dash  over  some  low  bushes  in  Glutts's 
direction.  In  a  moment  more  he  had  caught 
Glutts  by  the  arm. 

"Let  go  of  me!"  screamed  the  former  cadet, 
and  in  alarm  he  tried  to  push  Fred  away.  But 
the  youngest  Rover  boy  clung  fast,  and  then 
Glutts  aimed  a  blow  with  his  fist  at  Fred's  face. 

Had  the  blow  landed  as  intended,  it  would 
have  hurt  severely;  but  the  youngest  Rover 
ducked,  and  then  hit  Glutts  a  stinging  blow  on 
the  chin. 

By  this  time  Randy  and  Gif  were  coming  up, 
and  almost  before  he  knew  it  Bill  Glutts  was  sur- 

127 


128    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

rounded.  Gif  caught  the  former  bully  of  the 
Hall  by  the  shoulder. 

"This  is  a  nice  way  to  act,  Glutts,"  he  said 
sternly.  "What  business  had  you  to  touch  our 
lunch?" 

"How  did  I  know  it  belonged  to  you?"  whined 
Glutts,  much  crestfallen  over  the  sudden  turn  af 
fairs  had  taken.  "We  found  the  stuff  on  the 
rocks." 

"You  can't  play  the  innocent  that  way,"  broke 
in  Randy.  "You  and  Gabe  Werner  must  have 
followed  us  to  this  island.  Gee !"  he  added  quick 
ly,  "where  is  Werner?" 

"Jack  went  after  him,"  answered  Fred;  "and 
so  did  Andy  and  Spouter." 

"We  didn't  follow  you  at  all,"  answered  Bill 
Glutts.  "We  have  as  much  right  on  this  island  as 
anybody.  We  ran  across  that  lunch  by  accident. 
We  didn't  know  that  anybody  was  coming  back 
to  get  it,"  he  added  lamely. 

In  the  meanwhile  Jack  was  hurrying  after 
Gabe  Werner,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  Ruth 
followed  close  behind  him,  at  the  same  time  call 
ing  to  the  others  for  help.  She  remembered  the 
anonymous  note  which  had  been  delivered,  and 
she  was  afraid  that  Gabe  Werner  might  try  to 
do  the  young  captain  serious  injury. 

Gabe  Werner  was  legging  it  among  the  trees. 


WERNER'S  ATTACK 


129 


He  was  trying  to  reach  the  shore  of  Bluebell 
Island,  but  became  confused  among  the  rocks  and 
bushes  and  presently  had  to  swing  around  in 
something  of  a  semicircle,  and  this  soon  brought 
him  face  to  face  with  Ruth. 

"Oh!"  cried  the  girl,  in  increased  alarm. 
"Don't  you  dare  touch  me,  Gabe  Werner !  Don't 
you  dare!" 

"Get  out  of  my  way!"  roared  the  bully,  and 
then,  as  he  heard  Jack  crashing  through  the( 
brushwood  directly  behind  him,  he  brushed  Ruth 
rudely  to  one  side. 

"Jack !  Jack !     Here  he  is !"  the  girl  screamed. 

The  young  captain  did  not  need  to  be  told  this, 
for  he  saw  Gabe  Werner  just  ahead  of  him.  He 
made  a  flying  leap  forward,  and  was  barely  able 
to  catch  Werner  by  the  tail  of  his  coat. 

"You  can't  get  away !  You  might  as  well  give 
it  up,"  he  said,  and  as  the  bully  kicked  out  sav 
agely,  he  caught  Werner  by  the  foot  and  sent 
him  headlong. 

"Oh,  Jack!  Jack!  Do  be  careful!"  cried  Ruth 
in  increasing  alarm,  and  then  she  set  up  a  call 
for  assistance. 

"I'm  not  afraid  of  Gabe  Werner,  and  he  knows 
it,"  answered  the  young  captain. 

"I'll  fix  you  for  this !"  roared  Werner.  "I  owe 
you  a  lot  for  the  way  you've  been  treating  me." 


130    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

And  with  these  words  he  scrambled  to  his  feet; 
and  aimed  a  blow  at  Jack's  face. 

The  young  captain  moved  to  one  side  so  that 
the  blow  struck  him  on  the  shoulder.  He  came 
back  quickly  with  one  on  Werner's  right  ear,  and 
followed  this  up  with  another  on  the  bully's 
nose,  which  made  that  organ  bleed  profusely. 

By  this  time  there  was  more  noise  in  the  under 
brush,  and  Andy  and  Spouter  could  be  heard 
calling. 

"This  way!     This  way!"  answered  Ruth. 

While  she  was  calling,  and  while  Andy  and 
Spouter  were  doing  their  best  to  brush  aside  some 
thorny  bushes  which  held  them  back,  the  struggle 
between  Jack  and  Werner  continued.  The  bully 
landed  on  Jack's  shoulder  again  and  then  on  his 
chest,  and  in  return  received  a  crack  on  the  chin 
which  all  but  keeled  him  over. 

"I  said  I'd  get  you,  Jack  Rover,  and  I  will!" 
spluttered  Werner,  after  this  last  attack.  Andj 
then,  as  Jack  made  a  move  as  if  to  strike  him 
again,  the  bully  stepped  around  to  one  side,  bring 
ing  himself  once  more  close  to  Ruth.  His  right 
hand  had  gone  down  into  his  coat  pocket,  and 
now  he  brought  out  something  in  a  small  paper 
bag. 

"I  said  I'd  fix  you,  and  this  is  how  I'm  going 
to  do  it!  Look  there,  if  you  dare!"  called  out 


WERNER'S   ATTACK 


13* 


Werner,  and  pointed  to  a  tree  limb  just  over  their 
heads. 

Fearing  some  trick,  Jack  gave  only  the  faintest) 
of  glances  upward,  but  Ruth,  more  innocent,, 
gazed  wide-eyed  at  the  limb  pointed  out.  As  he 
spoke,  Werner  broke  open  the  paper  bag  and 
hurled  its  contents  forward. 

"There!  Take  that,  Jack  Rover!"  he  shouted 
triumphantly.  "Take  that,  and  see  how  you  like 
it!" 

It  was  a  package  of  pepper  which  Gabe  Werner 
had  carried.  As  it  was  thrown  forward  a  small 
portion  of  it  went  in  Jack's  face,  but  the  most 
of  it  was  sent  in  a  spray  over  the  young  captain's 
shoulder  and  hit  poor  Ruth. 

"Oh!  Oh!"  screamed  the  girl.  "Oh,  I  am 
blinded !  He  threw  pepper  in  my  eyes !" 

"You  hound,  you!"  exclaimed  Jack,  and  even 
though  his  eyes  smarted  not  a  little  from  the  few 
grains  of  pepper  that  had  entered,  he  managed 
to  leap  upon  the  bully  and  give  him  a  swinging 
crack  in  the  jaw.  But  then  Werner  threw  the 
young  captain  backward  over  a  rock,  and  just  as 
Andy  and  Spouter  put  in  an  appearance  he  dodgedf 
in  among  some  heavy  brushwood  and  quickly  dis 
appeared. 

"What  did  he  do  ?"  demanded  Spouter. 

"He  threw  something  in  our  eyes.     Ruth  got 


I32    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

the  worst  of  it,"  answered  Jack.  "Go  on  after, 
him;  we'll  have  to  attend  to  our  eyes." 

Jack's  eyes  were  bad  enough,  but  Ruth's  were 
much  worse.  The  girl  could  hardly  keep  from 
screaming  with  pain,  and  Jack  was  just  then  in 
no  condition  to  assist  her.  Seeing  this,  Andy  and 
Spouter  set  up  a  yell  for  some  of  the  others  to 
go  after  Werner,  and  then  did  what  they  could 
to  relieve  the  sufferers. 

"Come  on  down  to  the  lake,"  advised  Spouter., 
"I  guess  water  will  be  about  the  best  thing  you 
can  use.  Anyhow,  yow.  can  wash  out  the  pepper 
if  there  is  any  left." 

Both  cadets  assisted  Ruth  to  the  water's  edge, 
and  Jack  stumbled  after  them.  Here  the  eyesri 
which  had  already  begun  to  inflame,  were  washed< 
out  carefully,  and  then,  as  Ruth  continued  to  com 
plain  of  the  pain,  they  bound  up  her  eyes  with 
their  handkerchiefs. 

"I  think  mine  will  be  all  right  after  a  while," 
said  Jack.  "They  smart  a  little,  but  that's  all." 

"Don't  you  think  Ruth  had  better  see  a  doc 
tor?"  suggested  Spouter. 

"By  all  means.  We'll  get  back  to  town  just} 
as  soon  as  we  possibly  can.  He  can  probably 
give  her  some  sort  of  ointment  that  will  relieve 
the  pain  and  take  away  the  inflammation." 

By  this  time  the  others  were  coming  up.    The 


WERNER'S  ATTACK 


133 


news  that  Ruth  had  received  a  dose  of  peppeii 
in  her  eyes  excited  everybody. 

"Gabe  Werner  ought  to  be  put  in  jail  for  this," 
said  Martha. 

"Isn't  it  the  most  dreadful  thing  you  ever  heard 
of!"  came  from  May. 

The  excitement  was  so  intense  that  for  the 
time  being  the  boys  forgot  all  about  Bill  Glutts. 
As  a  consequence  when  they  turned  to  where 
they  had  left  that  unworthy,  Glutts  had  disap 
peared. 

"Well,  he  got  a  good  beating,  anyhow,"  said 
Randy.  "I  think  that  will  teach  him  to  leave  our 
stuff  alone  after  this." 

At  first  some  of  the  boys  were  inclined  to  make, 
another  hunt  for  Werner  and  Glutts.  They  knew, 
the  bullies  must  have  come  to  the  island  in  some 
kind  of  a  boat. 

"If  we  can  find  their  boat  we  can  take  it  with 
us,"  said  Spouter.  "Then  they  can  either  stay  on 
the  island  or  try  to  swim  ashore." 

"We  can't  waste  any  more  time,"  declared  Jack. 
"We  must  get  Ruth  to  a  doctor.  And  I'd  like  to 
see  a  doctor  myself.  My  eyes  feel  terribly, 
scratchy." 

"Yes,  yes!  I  want  to  see  a  doctor  at  once,"( 
said  Ruth.  "My  eyes  hurt  dreadfully." 

Some  of  the  boys  gathered  up  what  was  left 


134 


THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 


of  the  lunch,  and  all  made  their  way  to  the; 
water's  edge,  where  the  rowboats  had  been  left, 
As  they  did  this  they  heard  the  sudden  put-put  of 
a  motor-boat,  and  a  few  seconds  later  they  saw 
the  craft  shoot  out  of  a  tiny  cove  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  island  and  head  for  the  eastern  shore 
of  Clearwater  Lake. 

"There  they  go!  There  are  Glutts  and  Wer 
ner!"  exclaimed  Gif. 

"And  in  a  motor-boat,  too!"  added  Randy. 
"Too  bad !  If  they  were  in  a  rowboat  we  might 
be  able  to  catch  them." 

"Oh,  let  them  go,"  said  Mary  hastily.  "I  am 
more  worried  about  Ruth's  eyes  than  anything 
else." 

"We're  all  worried  about  that,"  answered  her 
brother.  "Come  on,  we'll  get  over  to  Haven 
Point  just  as  fast  as  we  can.  I  only  hope  we 
find  one  of  the  doctors  at  home." 

They  tumbled  into  the  boats,  the  girls  leading 
Ruth,  who  still  had  her  eyes  bandaged. 

"Do  you  think  you  can  row,  Jack?"  questioned 
Fred. 

"Of  course  I  can,"  replied  the  young  captain. 
He  was  not  going  to  admit  that  the  injury  to  his 
eyes  was  making  him  feel  sick  all  over. 

May  sat  beside  Ruth  and  did  what  she  could 
for  the  sufferer.  All  of  the  boys  bent  to  their 


WERNER'S  ATTACK  135 

oars  and  a  straight  course  was  taken  for  the 
town. 

"Wouldn't  it  be  dreadful  if  Ruth  was  blinded 
for  life?"  remarked  Alice  Strobell  on  the  way. 

"Oh,  Alice !  don't  suggest  such  a  thing  as  that," 
came  from  Annie  Larkins  in  horror. 

"Well,  people  have  been  blinded  in  that  way 
more  than  once,"  remarked  Randy.  "It  all  de 
pends  on  how  bad  a  dose  she  got." 

"Jack  said  the  pepper  must  have  been  intended 
for  him,"  came  from  Andy.  "I  can't  imagine 
that  Werner  would  be  wicked  enough  to  try  to 
injure  Ruth  that  way." 

"Maybe  he  didn't  intend  to  do  it  when  he 
started,"  returned  his  brother.  "But  when  Wer 
ner  gets  mad  he's  liable  to  do  almost  anything. 
You  know  that  as  well  as  I  do." 

"That's  true.  When  he  gets  into  a  rage  he  goes 
almost  insane." 

"What  an  ending  to  our  outing !"  sighed  Alice.( 

"And  we  didn't  eat  a  mouthful  of  the  lunch !" 
added  Annie.  She  had  spent  over  an  hour  in 
fixing  some  fancy  sandwiches. 

"Was  that  pepper  from  some  you  brought 
along?"  questioned  Randy  quickly. 

"As  far  as  I  know  we  didn't  bring  any  pep 
per  along.  We  had  a  saltcellar,  and  that's  all," 
answered  Alice. 


136    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Then  it  must  have  been  a  deliberate  attempt 
on  Werner's  part  to  blind  Jack!"  cried  Andy. 
"Oh,  what  a  pity  we  didn't  catch  him!  Then 
we  could  have  handed  him  over  to  the  authori 
ties." 

When  the  boys  and  girls  reached  one  of  the 
docks  at  Haven  Point  Andy  and  Randy  ran  on 
ahead  and  speedily  procured  a  taxicab.  Into  this 
Ruth  and  Jack  were  hustled,  and  then  Randy, 
sitting  beside  the  driver,  directed  him  to  take  the 
sufferers  to  the  nearest  doctor. 

At  the  first  physician's  house  they  learned  that 
the  doctor  was  away  for  the  afternoon.  Then 
they  hurried  to  another  part  of  the  town,  and 
there  found  Efcoctor  Borden,  an  older  man  who 
had  occasionally  come  to  both  the  girls'  school 
and  the  military  academy. 

"Pepper  in  your  eyes!  Is  it  possible!"  said 
the  old  physician.  "Come  into  my  office  at  once. 
Sometimes  that  sort  of  thing  is  very  serious.'* 

"You  wait  on  the  lady  first,  Doctor,"  said  Jack. 
"She  is  by  far  the  worse  off." 

"Very  well,"  said  the  doctor.  "Come  this 
way,"  and  he  led  Ruth  into  his  private  office. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

BOUND    FOR     HOME 

the  doctor  was  attending  Ruth  the 
others  of  the  party  arrived  at  the  physician's  resi 
dence.  They  found  Jack  walking  up  and  down  in 
the  anteroom  while  Randy  sat  in  a  chair  doing 
what  he  could  to  comfort  his  cousin. 

"What  does  the  doctor  say  about  Ruth?"  ques 
tioned  May  quickly. 

"He  hasn't  come  out  yet.  They  are  in  there," 
and  Randy  pointed  with  his  hand  to  the  inner 
office. 

"Oh,  Jack,  how  do  your  eyes  feel  ?"  questioned 
Martha,  coming  up  and  gazing  earnestly  at  her 
brother. 

"To  tell  the  truth,  they  don't  feel  very  good, 
Martha,"  he  answered.  "But  I  won't  mind  that 
so  much  if  only  Ruth  gets  out  of  it." 

The  boys  and  girls  sat  down,  some  in  the  outer 
office  and  some  on  the  piazza,  of  the  doctor's  resi 
dence.  They  had  to  wait  nearly  a  quarter  of  an 
liour  before  the  door  of  the  inner  office  opened.! 

137 


138    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"I  think  the  young  lady  will  feel  much  better- 
by  to-morrow,"  said  Doctor  Borden,  as  he  led 
Ruth  forth.  He  had  placed  a  new  and  heavier 
bandage  over  her  eyes.  "I'll  call  at  the  school  to 
see  her  the  first  thing  to-morrow  morning.  You 
need  do  nothing  to  the  eyes  until  that  time."  He 
looked  at  the  other  girls.  "I  presume  you  young 
ladies  are  with  Miss  Stevenson?" 

"We  are,"  several  of  them  answered. 

"Then  there  ought  not  to  be  any  trouble  about 
getting  her  back  to  the  school  in  safety,"  and  the 
physician  smiled  faintly. 

"I'll  get  a  taxicab,"  said  Randy,  and  lost  no 
time  in  doing  so. 

"I  don't  want  to  go  back  to  the  school  until 
Jack  has  been  taken  care  of,"  declared  Ruth.  "I 
want  to  know  just  how  bad  off  he  is.  The  doc 
tor  tells  me  he  doesn't  think  my  eyes  will  be  per 
manently  injured."  She  was  trying  to  bear  up 
bravely,  even  though  her  eyes  hurt  her  a  good 
deal.  But  what  the  doctor  had  put  on  them  was 
gradually  allaying  the  pain. 

Jack  entered  the  inner  office,  and  the  doctor 
made  a  thorough  examination  of  each  eye. 

"You  were  lucky  to  get  off  so  well,  Rover," 
he  announced  at  the  conclusion  of  the  examina 
tion.  "I'll  give  you  a  lotion  to  put  on  to-night 
before  retiring,  and  I'll  give  you  a  treatment  of 


BOUND  FOR  HOME  139 

it  now.  Then  bathe  the  eyes  again  in  the  morn 
ing1,  and  I  think  in  a  day  or  two  you  will  be  as 
well  as  ever." 

"And  what  about  Miss  Stevenson's  eyes?" 
questioned  the  young  captain  anxiously. 

"I  can't  say  very  much  about  them  as  yet.  Of 
course,  I  didn't  want  to  worry  her,  so  I  did  not 
tell  her  how  bad  it  might  be.  Still,  I'll  know 
more  about  it  to-morrow  morning." 

This  was  as  much  as  Doctor  Borden  would  say. 
Jack  received  the  treatment  and  was  given  a  small 
bottle  filled  with  the  lotion,  and  then,  after  settling 
with  the  physician,  he  was  ready  to  leave. 

"Do  you  want  any  of  us  to  go  to  the  school 
with  you?"  he  asked  of  Ruth  and  the  other  girls. 

"No,  Jack;  it  won't  do  any  good,"  answered 
the  blindfolded  girl.  And  as  he  took  her  hand 
and  pressed  it  warmly,  she  added :  "Please  don't 
worry  about  me." 

"But  I'm  going  to,  Ruth,"  he  answered  in  a 
low  tone.  "Somehow,  I  feel  that  your  injury  is 
my  fault." 

"Nonsense!  It  was  Gabe  Werner's  fault  en 
tirely  !  That  boy  ought  really  to  be  in  jail !  But,/ 
Jack,  you  are  quite  sure  that  your  eyes  are  all; 
right  ?"  she  went  on  anxiously. 

"Yes,  Ruth.  The  doctor  says  that  I'll  be  as 
well  as  ever  in  a  day  or  two.  You  are  the  only 


140    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

one  to  be  worried  over.  I'll  tell  Martha  to  tele 
phone  to  me  to-morrow  just  as  soon  as  the  doctor 
has  seen  you."  And  so  it  was  arranged. 

Randy  had  obtained  a  large  taxicab  and  into 
this  all  the  girls  crowded,  taking  care,  however, 
to  make  Ruth  as  comfortable  as  possible  on  the 
rear  seat.  Then  the  girls  of  Clearwater  Hall 
started  for  the  school. 

"I'll  bet  Miss  Garwood  will  be  surprised  when 
she  sees  Ruth,"  was  Andy's  comment,  as  he 
watched  the  girls  riding  away.  Miss  Garwood 
was  the  head  of  the  girls'  school. 

"Poor  Ruth,"  murmured  Fred.  "What  a  mis 
erable  outing  this  has  been !" 

Fortunately  for  the  cadets,  they  found  the 
Colby  Hall  stage  in  town,  and  all  piled  in  and 
were  speedily  taken  to  the  school.  Here  Jack 
and  Randy  went  up  to  their  rooms,  while  the 
others  reported  to  Colonel  Colby. 

"Threw  pepper  into  Jack's  eyes,  did  he!"  said 
the  colonel  wrathfully.  "What  a  dastardly  thing 
to  do!  I  am  glad  that  Werner  is  no  longer  a 
pupil  at  the  school.  If  he  were  I  should  feel  it 
my  duty  to  hand  him  over  to  the  authorities.  You 
say  he  did  not  come  back  to  Haven  Point?" 

"No,  sir,"  answered  Gif .  "They  motored  over 
to  the  other  side — over  to  where  the  Hasley  am 
munition  factory  used  to  be  located." 


BOUND  FOR  HOME  141 

"I  see.  Then  probably  both  he  and  Glutts  will 
take  good  care  not  to  show  themselves  in  the 
vicinity  of  Haven  Point,"  said  Colonel  Colby. 

And  in  this  surmise  the  head  of  the  school  was 
correct.  Long  afterwards  it  was  learned  that 
Werner  had  put  the  motor-boat  into  the  hands  of] 
a  man  to  bring  it  back  to  the  party  of  whom  it 
had  been  hired,  and  then  he  and  Glutts  had 
tramped  three  miles  across  the  country  to  a  rail 
road  station  where  they  took  a  train  for  parts 
unknown. 

The  colonel  came  up  to  see  Jack  and  have  a 
look  at  his  injured  eyes,  and  then  sent  Mrs. 
Crews  up  to  the  young  captain  to  bathe  his  eyes 
with  the  lotion  the  doctor  had  given  him  and 
bind  them  up. 

"It's  too  bad!  too  bad  entirely!"  said  Mrs, 
Crews,  who  was  quite  a  motherly  woman.  "I 
hope  your  eyes  are  as  well  as  ever  in  a  day  or 
two."  And  then  she  added  with  a  twinkle  in 
her  own  optics :  "I  suppose  that  is  what  you  get 
for  running  off  with  that  baby  carriage." 

"If  it  is,  it's  a  terrible  price  to  pay,  Mrs. 
Crews,"  answered  Jack,  and  then  told  her  about 
Ruth. 

"Now  that's  too  bad  entirely,"  said  the  matron 
of  the  school.  "Oh,  who  would  want  to  harm  a 
dear  young  lady  like  Miss  Stevenson?  It's  awful 


142    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

tow  wicked  some  young  men  are,"  and  she  shook 
her  head  dolefully. 

Jack  took  it  easy  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  and 
one  after  another  his  chums  came  in  to  sympa-» 
thize  with  him. 

"I  can't  understand  a  fellow  like  Werner,"  re 
marked  Ned  Lowe.  "If  he  isn't  careful  he'll  land 
in  prison." 

"What  gets  me  is  that  a  fellow  like  Glutts  keeps 
on  tagging  after  him,"  put  in  Dan  Soppinger. 
"Sooner  or  later  Werner  is  bound  to  lead  Glutts 
into  something  pretty  bad." 

Jack  passed  a  restless  night,  not  only  because 
his  eyes  hurt  him,  but  because  he  could  not  get 
Ruth  out  of  his  mind.  What  if  the  girl's  eyes 
should  be  permanently  injured  ?  The  mere  thought 
of  such  a  catastrophe  horrified  him. 

In  the  morning  he  bathed  his  eyes  again,  as 
Doctor  Borden  had  directed.  He  had  been  ex 
cused  from  his  classroom,  and  so  sat  around 
•where  he  could  readily  be  called  to  the  telephone 
if  any  message  came  in  for  him.  It  was  not 
until  about  eleven  o'clock  that  his  sister  rang 
him  up. 

"The  doctor  left  a  few  minutes  ago,"  said 
Martha  over  the  wire.  "He  was  with  Ruth  about 
half  an  hour,  and  gave  her  quite  a  treatment.  He 
was  very  much  encouraged,  and  said  he  thought 


BOUND  FOR  HOME 


143 


she  would  come  around  again  all  right  in  a  few 
days,  but  that  she  must  be  careful  for  several 
weeks  about  how  she  strained  her  eyes  or  went 
out  in  the  wind." 

"But  he  really  thinks  she  will  come  around  all 
right?"  questioned  Jack  anxiously. 

"Yes,  Jack,  he  was  almost  sure  of  it.  And, 
oh !  I  am  so  glad,  and  so  are  all  the  other  girls.". 

"Well,  it's  a  great  relief  to  me,  Martha,"  he 
returned,  and  his  voice  showed  what  a  weight  had 
been  lifted  from  his  mind. 

After  that  the  days  to  the  end  of  the  term 
passed  quickly.  There  were  the  usual  examina 
tions,  and  all  of  the  Rovers  were  glad  to  learn 
that  they  had  passed  successfully.  In  the  mean 
while  Jack's  eyes  continued  to  mend,  so  that  on 
the  final  day  at  the  Hall  they  felt  practically  as 
good  as  ever. 

The  young  captain  and  Fred  had  gone  over  to 
Clearwater  Hall,  ostensibly  to  call  on  their  sis 
ters,  but  in  reality  to  find  out  about  Ruth.  She 
came  down  to  greet  them,  and  they  were  sur 
prised  and  delighted  to  find  that  she  no  longer 
wore  the  bandage  over  her  eyes. 

"I  can't  go  out  in  the  strong  sunlight  yet,  nor, 
in  the  wind,"  said  the  girl.  "Nor  can  I  do  mticK 
reading  or  studying.  But  the  eyes  no  longer; 
pain  me,  and  for  that  I  am  very  thankful" 


144    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Doctor  Borden  says  it  will  take  a  week  or  two 
before  her  eyes  are  normal  again,"  explained 
Martha.  "But  that  isn't  so  bad  when  you  con 
sider  what  might  have  occurred,"  and  she  gave  a 
little  shiver. 

Colby  Hall  was  to  close  several  days  before 
the  girls'  school,  but  the  two  Rover  girls  had 
received  permission  to  go  home  with  their  broth 
ers.  This  was  the  last  chance  Jack  had  of  seeing 
Ruth,  and  the  last  chance  that  Fred  would  have 
to  see  May,  and  both  made  the  most  of  it. 

"I'll  write  to  you,  sure,  Ruth,"  said  the  young 
captain.  "And  I  hope  your  eyes  will  allow  you 
to  reply." 

"Oh,  I'll  send  you  something,  Jack,  even  if  it's 
only  a  postal,"  was  the  quick  answer.  "Please 
don't  worry  about  me.  I  am  sure  my  eyes  will 
come  around  all  right  sooner  or  later." 

"If  they  don't  I'll  never  forgive  myself  for 
taking  you  on  that  outing,"  said  the  young  cap 
tain  feelingly. 

With  the  examinations  at  an  end,  the  Colby 
Hall  cadets  were  allowed  to  do  very  much  as  they 
pleased,  and  on  the  last  night  at  school  there  was 
the  usual  horseplay  and  cutting  up  generally^ 
Some  boys  tried  to  catch  Stowell,  but  the  sneak 
of  the  school  outwitted  them  by  receiving  per 
mission  to  leave  the  Hall  twelve  hours  early. 


BOUND  FOR  HOME 

*Well,  good  riddance  to  bad  rubbish!"  an 
nounced  Fatty  Hendry,  when  he  heard  of  this. 
"I  think  Colby  Hall  could  get  along  very  well  if 
Stowell  stayed  away  for  good." 

"I'm  sure  I  wouldn't  worry  if  he  did  stay 
away,"  returned  Walt  Baxter. 

"And  now  hurrah  for  little  old  New  York!" 
cried  Andy,  on  the  following  morning. 

"Little  old  New  York  and  our  dads!"  added 
his  twin. 

"I  wonder  if  they  have  arrived  yet?"  put  in 
Fred  quickly.  "I  don't  think  so,  or  they  would 
have  sent  us  a  telegram." 

"Either  that,  or  they  want  to  surprise  us  when 
we  get  there,"  said  Jack. 

Their  trunks  had  been  sent  on  ahead,  and  di 
rectly  after  breakfast  they  set  to  work  to  finish 
packing  their  suitcases.  Then  they  went  around 
saying  good-bye  to  the  professors  and  Colonel 
Colby,  and  did  not  forget  "Shout"  Plunger  and 
Bob  Nixon,  giving  the  latter  some  tips  to  re 
member  them  by. 

"Off  at  last!"  cried  Fred,  as  the  auto-stage 
rumbled  up  to  take  the  first  crowd  of  boys  to  the 
railroad  station.  In  they  piled,  and  were  soon 
whirled  away  in  the  direction  of  Haven  Point. 

At  the  railroad  station  they  were  met  by  Mar 
tha  and  Mary.  The  other  girls  could  not  come* 


146    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

as  all  had  examinations  that  morning.  Soon  the 
train  rolled  in,  and  the  Rovers  and  a  number  of 
the  other  cadets  piled  in,  Jack  and  Fred  being 
accompanied  by  their  sisters. 

"I'll  be  glad  to  get  home  again  and  see  mother 
and  Aunt  Grace  and  Aunt  Nellie,"  remarked 
Martha,  as  she  settled  herself  in  a  seat  beside 
her  brother. 

"And  how  about  dad,  Martha?"  questioned 
Jack. 

"You  don't  have  to  ask  that  question,"  she 
returned  quickly.  "You  know  I  am  just  as  crazy 
to  see  him  as  you  are.  And  I'm  crazy  to  see 
Uncle  Tom  and  Uncle  Sam,  too." 

"I'll  bet  they'll  have  some  stories  to  tell  about 
their  doings  in  France." 

"Yes,  indeed,  Jack.  Oh,  how  they  all  must 
have  suffered !  And  how  thankful  I  am  that  they 
are  coming  back  to  us  whole  and  hearty.  Just 
think  if  they  had  come  back  minus  an  arm  or  a 
leg,  or  frightfully  injured  in  some  other  way!" 

"I  have  thought  of  that,  Martha,  more  than 
once.  I  can  tell  you,  when  I  think  of  the  thou 
sands  of  good,  strong,  healthy  young  fellows  who 
went  over  there  and  gave  up  their  lives  or  came 
back  crippled,  I  feel  that  our  folks  have  much  to 
be  thankful  for." 


CHAPTER   XV 

BACK    FROM     FRANCE 

THE  journey  to  New  York  City  was  unevent 
ful.  They  had  to  change  cars  at  the  Junction,  and 
here  a  number  of  the  other  cadets  left  the  Rov 
ers.  These  included  Gif  and  Spouter. 

"Sorry  you're  not  going  down  to  the  city  with 
ns,"  said  Jack ;  "but  I  suppose  you  are  as  anxious 
to  see  your  folks  as  we  are  to  see  ours." 

"Right  you  are,"  answered  Spouter.  And  Gif 
nodded  his  head  to  show  that  he  agreed  with  his 
chum. 

When  the  train  rolled  into  the  Grand  Central 
Terminal  at  Forty-second  Street  the  Rovers  found 
two  automobiles  awaiting  them,  and  in  the  turn-, 
outs  were  the  three  mothers  of  the  boys  and  girls. 

"What's  the  news  about  dad,  Ma?"  burst  out 
Jack,  as  he  kissed  his  parent. 

"Have  the  soldiers  come  back  yet?"  was  Fred's 
question. 

"They  haven't  got  in  yet,  but  we  are  expecting 
them  almost  any  time  now,"  answered  Mrs.  Dick 
Rover. 

147 


148    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"We  are  just  as  anxious  as  you  are  to  see 
them,"  came  from  Mrs.  Tom  Rover,  as  both  of> 
her  sons  gave  her  a  warm  hug.  "There,  there  I 
don't  smother  me !"  she  added  affectionately. 

"Oh,  it's  so  good  to  be  home  again !"  exclaimed 
Mary.  "Boarding  school  is  all  well  enough,  but 
I'd  rather  be  with  you  folks  any  time."  Mary 
had  always  been  a  good  deal  of  a  home  girl. 

The  young  folks  piled  into  the  cars,  which 
were  run  by  the  Rovers'  chauffeurs,  and  in  a  mo 
ment  more  they  were  picking  their  way  through 
the  crowded  traffic  in  the  direction  of  Fifth  Ave 
nue.  They  speeded  up  this  noted  thoroughfare 
and  then  across  town  to  Riverside  Drive. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  your  eyes,  Jack?" 
questioned  his  mother  presently.  "They  look 
rather  inflamed." 

"Oh,  I  had  a  little  run-in  with  one  of  our  old 
enemies,"  returned  the  young  captain.  "I'll  tell 
you  about  it  later." 

"It's  poor  Ruth  Stevenson  that  got  the  worst 
of  it,"  broke  in  Martha.  "We  may  as  well  tell 
mother,"  she  added.  "She  ought  to  know  it." 

"I  wish  you  boys  would  stop  making  enemies,** 
sighed  Mrs.  Rover.  "Sooner  or  later  they  may 
cause  you  a  lot  of  trouble." 

"Well,  I  don't  consider  that  it  is  our  fault," 
returned  Jack,  "It  is  no  more  our  fault  than  it 


BACK  FROM  FRANCE  149 

was  dad's  fault  to  make  an  enemy  of  Dan  Baxter 
and  his  father,  Arnold  Baxter." 

"Well,  if  only  your  enemies  reform,  as  Dan, 
Baxter  reformed,  that  will  be  something  worth 
while,"  said  his  mother. 

All  of  the  mothers  had  made  great  preparations 
for  the  return  of  the  young  people.  Their  rooms 
had  been  placed  in  order,  and  there  were  a  num 
ber  of  pretty  and  useful  gifts  for  all  of  them. 
Then  came  a  grand  reunion  in  the  Tom  Rover 
home,  where  an  elaborate  dinner  was  served  that 
evening. 

"Gee !  if  only  our  dads  were  here  to  enjoy  this 
with  us,"  murmured  Andy,  as  he  gazed  upon  the 
many  good  things  spread  before  him. 

"I'll  bet  they  won't  find  any  fault  with  home 
cooking  after  they  get  back  from  the  trenches  in 
France,"  commented  Randy,  with  a  grin.  "I'll 
bet  they've  had  to  put  up  with  all  kinds  of  cook- 
ing." 

"Yes,  and  sometimes  they  had  to  put  up  with 
cooking  that  wasn't,"  added  Andy. 

"Cooking  that  wasn't?"  repeated  Mary,  puzzled. 
"Oh !  I  know  what  you  mean — when  they  couldn't 
get  anything." 

A  number  of  their  friends  came  in  during  the 
evening  to  see  them,  and  the  young  folks  had  an 
enjoyable  time  dancing  and  in  singing  in  a  group 


150  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

around  the  piano,  which  the  girls  took  turns  in 
playing. 

"We'll  have  to  have  another  and  a  larger  gath 
ering  when  our  fathers  get  home,"  declared  Mary. 

"Oh,  won't  we  have  the  bully  good  time  then !" 
cried  her  brother. 

"Maybe  they  won't  have  some  stories  to  tell!" 
piped  in  Andy. 

"I  want  to  hear  all  about  how  Uncle  Dick  won 
that  medal,"  came  from  Randy. 

It  was  not  until  after  eleven  o'clock  that  the 
little  gathering  broke  up,  and  then  Mrs.  Dick 
Rover  called  her  children  to  her. 

"Now  you  must  tell  me  about  your  eyes,  Jack, 
and  you,  Martha,  must  tell  me  about  Ruth  Stev 
enson's,"  she  said. 

Thereupon  the  young  captain  and  his  sister  re 
lated  the  particulars  of  what  had  occurred  during 
the  outing  on  Bluebell  Island  and  what  had  been 
done  by  Doctor  Borden  to  relieve  the  sufferers. 

"It  was  a  vile  thing  to  do!"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Rover,  her  eyes  showing  her  displeasure.  "Why, 
that  Gabe  Werner  is  nothing  but  a  criminal  I 
You  can  be  thankful,  Jack,  that  you  escaped  as 
you  did.  But  are  you  sure  poor  Ruth's  eyes  are 
not  permanently  injured?" 

"Her  eyes  looked  a  great  deal  better  when  we 
came  away  than  they  had,"  answered  Martha. 


BACK  FROM  FRANCE  151 

"Jtwt  the  same,  I'm  greatly  worried,  and  I  know 
Jack  is  too." 

"Ruth  is  to  write  to  us  and  let  us  know  how 
she  is  getting  along,"  went  on  the  oldest  Rover 
boy. 

"Ruth  is  such  a  splendid  girl,  and  so  fine  look 
ing,  it  would  be  a  shame  if  her  eyes  were  hurt," 
continued  Mrs  Rover.  And  this  remark  about 
Ruth  caused  Jack  to  think  more  of  his  mother 
than  ever. 

Two  days  passed  quickly,  the  boys  and  girls 
spending  their  time  in  getting  settled  and  renew 
ing  old  acquaintances.  The  girls  went  shopping 
with  their  mothers,  while  the  lads  visited  the  offi 
ces  of  The  Rover  Company  in  Wall  Street  to  see 
with  their  own  eyes  how  matters  were  going. 

"Everything  seems  to  be  moving  along  swim-; 
mingly,"  remarked  Jack,  when  he  and  his  cousins 
came  away. 

"I'll  bet  it  will  seem  strange  to  our  dads  to  set 
tle  down  to  the  grind  once  more  after  seeing  so 
much  fighting,"  remarked  Fred. 

"It  will  be  hard  for  all  of  the  soldiers  and  sail 
ors  to  settle  down,  I'm  thinking,"  added  Randy. 
"A  fellow  can't  knock  around  here,  there,  and, 
everywhere  for  months  and  then  come  down  to  a 
regular  routine  all  in  a  minute." 

That  night  the  young  folks  retired  rather  early. 


152    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Andy  and  Randy  were  indulging  in  some  horse 
play  in  their  bedroom  when  they  heard  the  door-j 
bell  ring. 

"I'll  bet  it's  a  telegram  from  dad!"  burst  out 
Andy. 

"Maybe  it's  dad  himself!"  answered  his  twin. 
"Come  on  down  and  see." 

As  they  hurried  down  the  stairs  they  heard 
their  mother's  room  door  open  and  heard  one  of 
the  servants  going  to  the  front  door.  The  next 
instant  there  was  a  cry  from  below. 

"Mr.  Rover!     Is  it  really  you!" 

"It's  dad!  It's  dad!"  yelled  the  twins  simul 
taneously,  and  fairly  leaped  to  the  bottom  of  the 
stairs  and  ran  to  greet  their  father. 

"Hello,  boys !  So  you  got  home  ahead  of  me, 
did  you?"  came  from  Tom  Rover,  as  he  hugged 
and  kissed  each  in  turn.  "My,  how  big  you  are 
getting!" 

"Tom !  Tom !"  cried  his  wife  Nellie.  And  then 
she  rushed  down  the  stairs  as  he  rushed  up  to 
meet  her.  He  caught  her  up  in  his  strong  arms 
as  he  had  been  wont  to  do  so  many  times  in  the 
past  and  fairly  swung  her  above  him.  Then  he 
kissed  her  on  each  cheek  and  on  the  mouth  and 
set  her  down  with  his  hands  on  her  shoulders. 

'This  is  what  I've  been  waiting  for,  Nellie,"  he 
declared.  "Just  waiting  to  see  you  again !" 


BACK  FROM  FRANCE  153 

"And  I've  been  waiting  too,  Tom — waiting 
every  day,'*  she  murmured,  with  tears  in  her  beau 
tiful  eyes. 

In  the  meantime  similar  scenes  were  taking 
place  in  the  adjoining  houses.  Dick  Rover,  hav 
ing  a  key,  had  let  himself  in  unobserved,  and  gave 
his  wife  quite  a  shock  when  he  met  her  at  the 
door  to  her  room.  But  she  was  overjoyed  to  see 
him,  as  were  also  Jack  and  Martha,  and  all  clus 
tered  around  to  listen  to  what  he  might  have 
to  say. 

"Why,  Dad,  you  are  as  brown  as  a  berry!" 
declared  the  young  captain. 

"And  look  how  tall  and  strong  he  seems  to 
be !"  put  in  Martha. 

It  was  Mrs.  Sam  Rover  herself  who  answered 
her  husband's  ring,  and  her  shout  of  joy  quickly 
brought  Fred  downstairs.  Mary  had  already  re 
tired,  but,  leaping  up,  she  threw  a  kimona  around 
her  and  came  flying  down  in  bare  feet. 

And  then  what  a  reunion  there  was  among  the 
members  of  all  three  families !  The  doors  which 
connected  the  three  residences  were  thrown  wide 
open,  and  all  gathered  in  the  middle  house.  All 
seemed  to  be  talking  at  once,  and  boys,  fathers 
and  uncles  shook  hands  over  and  over  again, 
while  the  girls  and  their  mothers  came  in  for  iu- 
mimerable  hugs  and  kisses. 


154    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OP  LUCK 

"We  are  not  yet  mustered  out,"  said  Dick 
Rover.  "But  we  expect  to  be  before  a  great 
While." 

"You  ought  to  be  very  proud  of  having  done 
your  bit  for  Uncle  Sam,"  said  Mary  to  her  father 
and  her  uncles. 

"Well,  I  think  our  boys  did  their  bit,  too,  if 
I  am  any  judge,"  was  Sam  Rover's  fond  com 
ment.  "First  they  helped  to  catch  those  chaps 
who  blew  up  the  Hasley  ammunition  factory,  then 
they  aided  in  rounding  up  the  crowd  who  had 
the  hidden  German  submarine,  and  lastly  they  pre 
vented  those  Huns  from  establishing  that  wireless 
station  in  the  woods.  I  certainly  think  they  did 
remarkably  well." 

"But  they've  made  some  terrible  enemies," 
broke  in  Mrs.  Dick  Rover.  "Just  look  at  Jack's 
eyes.  One  fellow  tried  to  throw  pepper  into 
them." 

"Oh,  let's  not  talk  about  that  now,  Ma!"  cried 
the  young  captain.  "I  want  to  hear  all  about 
what  dad  and  Uncle  Tom  and  Uncle  Sam  have 
been  doing  in  France." 

"If  we  started  to  give  you  all  the  details  we 
wouldn't  get  to  bed  to-night,"  said  his  Uncle 
Tom,  with  a  grin.  They  had  already  been  talking 
for  quite  a  while,  and  the  clock  hands  pointed  to 
nearly  one  in  the  morning. 


BACK  FROM  FRANCE  155 

"Oh,  well,  this  is  a  red-letter  night,  Dad," 
|>roke  out  Randy. 

"Such  a  coming  together  may  not  happen  again 
in  a  lifetime,"  added  his  twin. 

Then  the  older  Rovers  told  of  many  of  their 
adventures,  both  while  in  camp  in  France  and 
during  the  time  they  had  been  on  the  firing  line. 

"We  were  in  some  pretty  hot  fights,"  admitted 
Tom  Rover.  "One  in  particular — when  we  forced 
the  Huns  out  of  a  stretch  of  woods  they  were 
holding — none  of  us  is  liable  to  forget.  That's 
the  fight  in  which  Sam  and  I  were  wounded." 

"Yes,  and  the  day  after  they  were  wounded  I 
was  caught  in  a  gas  attack,"  said  Dick  Rover. 
"My!  but  that  was  something  pretty  nasty!  I 
felt  as  if  somebody  had  me  by  the  throat  and  at 
the  same  time  was  trying  to  twist  my  stomach  in 
side  out.  I  never  felt  such  a  sensation  in  my 
life,"  and  he  shook  his  head  and  sighed  deeply 
over  the  recollection  of  what  he  had  passed 
through. 

"Was  that  where  you  won  your  medal,  Dad  ?" 
questioned  Jack  eagerly. 

"No,  my  boy.  The  medal  was  won  some  time 
later,  while  your  two  uncles  were  in  the  hospital 
trying  to  recover  from  their  wounds.  We  made 
two  advances,  and  then  were  told  to  hold  our  new 
line.  There  was  a  fierce  bombardment  early  in 


"156    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

the  morning,  and  then,  because  of  a  mix-up  of 
orders,  part  of  our  command  fell  back  while  an 
other  tried  to  go  forward.  One  of  our  men,  a 
fellow  named  Lorimer  Spell,  a  queer  sort  of  chap 
who  hailed  from  Texas,  was  hit  by  a  piece  of 
shell  and  knocked  partly  unconscious.  He  was 
unable  to  save  himself,  and  as  I  didn't  want  to 
see  him  killed  I  ran  out  from  behind  our  shelter 
and  brought  him  in." 


CHAPTER  XVI 
PICK  COVER'S   HEROISM 

IT  CAN  feadily  be  believed  that  the  Rovers  did 
not  sleep  much  that  night.  The  boys  and  girls 
were  downstairs  by  seven  o'clock  and  waited  anx 
iously  for  the  appearance  of  their  parents  in  the 
dining-room  of  Dick  Rover's  residence,  where  the 
fathers  were  to  have  breakfast  before  returning 
to  the  troopship  which  was  docked  across  the 
river,  at  Hoboken. 

"We've  got  to  get  back  by  noon,"  announced 
Tom  Rover,  "and  Sam  and  I  want  to  pay  a  visit 
to  Wall  Street  before  we  go,  so  we  won't  be  able 
to  spend  much  more  time  here." 

"You  were  going  to  tell  us  how  you  won  that 
medal,  Dad,"  said  Jack,  after  breakfast  was  over 
and  his  two  uncles  had  said  good-bye  to  every 
body  and  left.  "What  about  it?" 

"Well,  if  you  must  have  the  story,  sit  down 
and  I'll  give  it  to  you,"  answered  Dick  Rover, 
with  a  smile.  "As  it  happens,  the  death  of  Lori- 
mer  Spell  may  make  quite  a  difference  in  my  plans 
for  this  Summer." 

157 


158    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Oh,  then  the  poor  man  died  in  spite  of  your 
efforts  to  rescue  him !"  said  Martha  in  crestfallen 
tones. 

"He  didn't  die  from  that  shell  wound,"  an 
swered  her  father.  "But  I  had  better  tell  the 
story  from  the  beginning,  since  you  seem  to  be  so 
anxious  to  hear  it." 

"You  must  remember,  Dick,  that  Jack  is  some 
thing  of  a  soldier  himself.  He  is  a  captain  of 
the  cadets,  you  know,"  remarked  the  mother  erf 
the  lad. 

"Oh,  but  that  isn't  like  being  a  real  soldier  and 
fighting  for  Uncle  Sam !"  protested  the  youth. 

"This  Lorimer  Spell,  the  fellow  I  saved,  was  a 
tall,  lanky  Texan  who  joined  our  command  after 
we  arrived  in  France.  Just  how  he  got  in  I  can't 
say.  He  was  rather  a  quiet  sort  of  man,  and 
some  of  the  soldiers  thought  he  was  decidedly 
queer.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  botany  and 
geology,  and  I  take  it  he  was  something  of  a 
student  in  those  lines,  although  he  was  by  no 
means  well  educated. 

"The  day  that  he  was  knocked  out  by  a  frag 
ment  of  a  shell  was  a  misty  one — the  kind  of  a 
mist  that  makes  it  very  uncertain  to  see  any  great 
distance.  We  did  not  know  how  close  some  of 
the  Huns  might  be,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  they 
were  closer  than  we  expected,  and  some  time 


DICK  ROVER'S  HEROISM  1 59 

later  two  of  our  men  were  shot  down  while  mov 
ing  from  one  trench  to  another  close  by. 

"When  Spell  went  down  I  was  over  a  hundred 
feet  away  from  him.  Before  he  became  uncon 
scious  he  tried  to  crawl  back  to  the  trench  from 
which  he  had  come.  But  evidently  he  was  con 
fused  and  went  down  in  plain  sight  of  the  Huns. 

"I  didn't  care  very  much  for  the  man,  as  I 
told  you  before,  but  I  could  not  see  him  remain 
there  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  so 
without  thinking  twice  I  jumped  up  out  of  the 
trench  and  ran  across  the  ground  to  where  he 
was  lying.  The  shells  had  torn  the  soil  dread 
fully,  so  that  I  had  considerable  difficulty  in  reach 
ing  him. 

"I  placed  him  on  my  shoulder,  and  just  then 
several  Huns  began  firing  at  us.  One  bullet 
grazed  my  side,  giving  me  a  deep  scratch,  and  an 
other  went  through  the  cloth  of  Spell's  coat.  I 
stumbled  down  into  a  shell  crater  with  the  man 
and  had  all  I  could  do  to  drag  him  and  myself 
out.  Then  I  plunged  forward  again,  and  just 
as  the  Huns  let  out  several  more  shots,  both  of 
tis  stumbled  down  into  the  trench,  and  the  rescue, 
if  you  might  call  it  such,  was  over." 

"Well,  I  think  that  was  a  grand  thing  to  do, 
Dad !"  burst  out  Jack,  his  face  beaming.  "Simply 
grand!" 


l6o  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"You  couldn't  beat  it  for  pluck !"  said  Fred. 

"And  that's  how  you  won  the  medal?"  broke 
in  Andy.  ""Fine!" 

"You  certainly  deserved  it,"  added  his  twin. 
"Gee!  but  suppose  those  Huns  had  plugged  you 
when  you  were  carrying  the  fellow !" 

"And  that's  how  I  got  him  back  to  the 
trenches,"  went  on  Dick  Rover.  "He  was  taken 
to  the  field  hospital,  and  there  his  injuries  were 
found  to  be  slight,  and  in  a  few  days  he  was  back 
on  the  firing  line  again." 

"He  ought  to  have  been  mighty  thankful,"  de 
clared  Martha,  who  sat  close  by,  holding  her 
father's  hand. 

"He  was  thankful ;  and  for  that  reason  he  did 
something  which  may  have  an  important  bearing 
on  my  future  business  dealings,"  answered  Dick 
Rover.  "He  said  he  had  no  relatives  of  any  kind, 
and  he  then  and  there  made  a  will  whereby  if 
anything  happened  to  him  all  that  he  possessed  in 
this  world  should  go  to  me." 

"And  then  he  was  killed?"  questioned  Mrs. 
Rover. 

"Yes.  Just  two  days  after  his  return  to  duty 
we  were  making  another  advance.  Spell  was  in 
one  part  of  the  field  while  I  was  in  another.  Sud 
denly  I  saw  him  running  off  to  a  place  just  in 
front  of  where  our  squad  was  located.  Then  he 


DICK  ROVER'S  HEROISM  161 

made  a  turn  as  if  to  come  toward  us,  and  just  at 
that  instant  he  threw  up  his  hands  and  fell  for 
ward  on  his  face." 

Here  Dick  Rover  paused  and  dropped  his  eyes. 
No  one  cared  to  speak,  and  for  an  instant  there 
was  utter  silence. 

"When  the  skirmish  was  over  we  had  gained 
our  position,  and  a  few  hours  later  the  body  of 
Lorimer  Spell  was  picked  up  and  carried  to  the 
rear,"  went  on  Jack's  father.  "A  bullet  had  struck 
him  in  the  back  of  the  head,  and  death  must  have 
been  instantaneous. 

"I  confess  that  I  felt  pretty  bad.  A  number  of 
the  company  knew  of  the  will  Spell  had  made, 
and  two  of  them  were  witnesses  to  the  crude 
document  he  had  drawn  up.  As  a  consequence, 
Spell's  personal  effects  were  turned  over  to  me. 
They  included  a  small  amount  of  money,  a  ring, 
a  wrist  watch,  and  a  number  of  papers,  including 
an  order  for  a  box  in  a  safe  deposit  vault  in  a 
bank  in  Wichita  Falls,  Texas." 

"Poor  fellow,  it's  too  bad  he  couldn't  have  lived 
to  enjoy  himself  now  the  war  is  at  an  end,"  re 
marked  Mrs.  Sam  Rover. 

"Were  any  of  his  papers  of  value?"  questioned 
Jack  curiously. 

"That  remains  to  be  found  out,  Jack.  His 
papers  spoke  of  a  valuable  tract  of  oil  land  in 


162    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Texas  close  to  the  boundary  line  between  that 
State  and  Oklahoma." 

"Oil  lands!"  exclaimed  Randy.  "Why,  they 
may  be  worth  a  fortune,  Uncle  Dick !  They  are 
making  immense  strikes  in  oil  down  in  that  ter 
ritory." 

"I  know  that,  Randy.  Some  of  the  wells  are 
worth  a  fortune.  Bat,  on  the  other  hand,  you 
must  remember  that  many  of  the  tracts  that  are 
supposed  to  have  oil  on  them  have  so  far  proved 
to  be  utterly  dry.  Men  spend  ten  to  forty  thou 
sand  dollars  in  sinking  a  well  only  to  find  in  the 
end  that  they  have  had  their  labor  for  their 
pains." 

"Did  Lorimer  Spell  say  that  his  land  had  oil 
on  it  ?"  questioned  Fred. 

"From  the  way  his  papers  and  letters  read  one 
would  think  so,  Fred.  But,  as  I  said  before, 
Spell  was  a  very  queer  kind  of  man.  In  fact, 
some  of  the  fellows  in  our  company  thought  he 
was  a  little  bit  out  of  his  mind  at  times.  It  is 
just  possible  that  he  only  imagined  that  he  pos 
sessed  valuable  oil  land." 

"But  you  are  going  to  investigate,  aren't  you, 
and  make  sure  ?"  questioned  Jack. 

"Certainly,  Son.  I  intend  to  go  to  Texas  and 
make  an  investigation  just  as  soon  as  I  am  mus 
tered  out  of  the  service." 


DICK  ROVER'S  HEROISM  163 

"Oh,  Dad !  do  you  mean  that  you  might  go  to 
Texas  this  Summer  ?" 

"I  will  if  they  muster  me  out." 

"If  you  go,  won't  you  take  me  along?" 

"I'll  think  about  it,"  and  Dick  Rover  smiled 
at  his  son,  whose  face  showed  his  eagerness. 

"Gee!  I'd  like  to  go  to  Texas  myself,"  burst 
out  Fred. 

"Such  a  trip  would  suit  me  down  to  the 
ground,"  announced  Andy. 

"I've  always  wanted  to  see  a  big  oil  well  in 
operation,"  added  his  twin. 

"I'd  like  to  see  them  shoot  an  oil  well,"  went 
on  Jack.  "They  say  it  is  a  wonderful  sight,  espe 
cially  if  the  well  happens  to  be  a  real  gusher." 

"The  queerest  part  of  it  is  this,"  went  on  Dick 
Rover.  "Before  the  war  came  on  I  was  more  or 
less  interested  in  the  oil  fields  in  Texas  and  Okla 
homa,  as  well  as  in  Kansas.  A  good  oil  well,  or 
series  of  wells,  is  a  splendid  paying  proposition  in 
these  days,  and  I'd  like  first  rate  to  get  possession 
of  such  a  holding  and  then  start  a  first-class  oil 
company." 

"Oh,  there  are  millions  in  oil !  I  know  that  !*' 
burst  out  Martha.  "Why,  I  was  reading  in  a 
magazine  only  the  other  day  of  some  folks  in 
[Texas  who  were  quite  poor.  They  had  a  farm 
of  less  than  a  hundred  acres,  and  could  make 


164    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

barely  a  living  on  it.  Then  the  oil  prospectors 
came  along  and  located  a  well  or  two,  and  now 
those  poor  farm  people  have  so  much  money  they 
don't  know  what  to  do  with  it." 

"Wouldn't  it  be  great  if  we  could  go  down 
there  and  locate  a  few  of  those  first-class  wells  ?" 
said  Fred,  with  a  sigh.  "I'd  just  like  to  know 
how  it  feels  to  be  a  real  millionaire." 

"Can  I  go,  Dad,  if  you  go?"  questioned  Jack 
again. 

"I'll  see  about  that  later.  I  don't  wish  to  make 
any  promises  now." 

"If  Jack  goes  I  want  to  go  with  him,"  put  in 
Fred  sturdily. 

"Of  course  we'll  want  to  go  with  him !"  added 
Andy  and  Randy  in  a  breath. 

"What's  the  matter  with  us  girls  going  along?" 
demanded  Martha. 

"What  would  girls  be  doing  in  the  oil  fields?" 
asked  Fred.  "A  well  might  go  off  and  shoot  aU 
your  beautiful  dresses  full  of  oil." 

"Huh!  what  about  it  if  some  oil  got  on  that 
flaming  red  necktie  you  are  wearing,  Fred  ?"  ques 
tioned  his  sister  quickly.  In  his  haste  to  get 
dressed  that  morning  her  brother  had  donned  a 
necktie  which  she  detested. 

"Never  mind  my  necktie,  Mary.  If  Jack  goes 
to  Texas  I'm  going  to  see  if  I  can't  go  along." 


DICK  ROVER'S  HEROISM  165 

The  matter  was  talked  over  a  few  minutes 
longer,  and  then  Dick  Rover  went  off  with  his 
wife  to  arrange  some  private  affairs  before  he 
should  take  his  departure  for  Hoboken.  Then  he 
said  good-bye  all  around  and  was  off. 

"The  next  time  you  see  us  I  think  we'll  be  in  a 
big  parade,"  said  Jack's  father  on  leaving. 

"A  parade  ?"  queried  several  of  the  others. 

"Yes.  They  are  talking  of  having  a  big  parade 
of  the  soldiers  on  Fifth  Avenue.  If  they  do, 
of  course  we'll  be  in  it." 

"Hurrah!  that's  the  stuff,"  cried  Andy.  "I've 
been  aching  to  see  one  of  those  big  parades  ever 
since  war  was  declared." 

"If  you  do  parade,  Dad,  we'll  all  be  there  to 
see  you,"  declared  Martha. 

"We'll  want  front  seats  in  the  grandstand," 
added  Mary. 

"I  don't  think  you'll  get  any  front  seats, 
Mary,"  answered  her  mother.  "More  than  likely 
those  seats  will  be  reserved  for  the  gold-star 
mothers — those  who  have  lost  their  sons  in 
battle." 

"Well,  those  mothers  deserve  the  front  seats 
every  time,"  said  Jack. 

"Indeed  they  do !"  came  from  the  girls. 

"How  soon  will  this  parade  come  off?"  ques 
tioned  Randy. 


166    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"I  don't  know  that  the  date  has  been  settled 
exactly,"  answered  Dick  Rover.  "But  it  will  un 
doubtedly  be  in  the  near  future.  You  will  prob 
ably  see  all  the  details  in  the  newspapers.  I  pre 
sume  the  whole  of  New  York  will  have  a  holi 
day." 

"Yes,  and  Fifth  Avenue  will  be  decorated  in 
great  shape  from  end  to  end,"  declared  Mary. 
"Just  see  how  they  have  been  working  on  that 
Arch  of  Victory,  and  the  Tower  of  Jewels,  and  all 
the  other  things." 

"It  will  certainly  be  a  parade  well  worth  see 
ing,"  said  Dick's  wife. 

"Yes,  and  I'll  wager  folks  will  come  miles  and 
miles  to  see  it,"  added  Fred.  And  then  he  con 
tinued  quickly:  "What's  the  matter  with  having 
Grandfather  Rover  down  here  from  Valley  Brook 
Farm?" 

"Yes,  and  Great-aunt  Martha  and  Uncle  Ran 
dolph,  too !"  broke  in  Mary. 

"Oh,  we  must  have  all  of  them,  by  all  means f 
cried  Jack. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE  GREAT  VICTORY  PARADE 

"My,  WHAT  a  jam  of  people!" 

"Did  you  ever  see  such  a  crowd  before  in  all 
your  life!" 

"And  look  at  the  flags  and  other  decorations! 
Aren't  they  beautiful  ?" 

"This  time  New  York  has  outdone  herself." 

It  was  the  day  for  the  great  parade  of  the  re 
turned  soldiers,  and  New  York  City,  especially  in 
the  vicinity  of  Fifth  Avenue,  was  packed  with 
dense  crowds  that  filled  miles  of  grandstands, 
windows,  and  other  points  of  vantage,  and  also 
jammed  the  sidewalks  and  the  side  streets.  It 
was  a  holiday  for  all,  and  everybody  was  going  to 
make  the  most  of  it. 

The  Rovers  had  left  their  homes  early  to  make 
their  way  to  the  seats  they  had  obtained  on  one 
of  the  stands.  With  those  who  resided  in  the 
city  were  Grandfather  Rover  and  also  Aunt  Mar 
tha  and  Uncle  Randolph,  who  had  come  down  the 
day  previous  from  Valley  Brook  Farm. 

167 


168  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"This  is  the  greatest  day  of  my  life,"  said 
Grandfather  Rover,  his  eyes  glistening  with  pleas 
ure.  "To  think  that  my  boys  have  all  fought  for 
our  country  and  come  back  from  the  war  safely." 

"Yes,  and  to  think  one  of  them  has  won  a 
medal — not  but  what  the  others  have  been  equally 
brave,"  responded  old  Uncle  Randolph. 

"I  hope  they  never  have  to  go  to  another  war — 
they  or  their  sons  either,"  murmured  old  Aunt 
Martha. 

The  girls  had  invited  May  and  Ruth  to  come 
to  New  York  to  witness  the  parade.  May  had 
accepted  the  invitation,  but  Ruth  had  sent  word 
the  doctor  did  not  think  a  trip  advisable  at  this 
time,  her  eyes  being  still  in  bad  condition. 

"It's  too  bad  Ruth  couldn't  come,"  sighed 
Jack. 

"Well,  she  had  better  take  care  of  her  eyes," 
answered  his  sister.  "Oh,  dear,  why  did  that  hor 
rid  Werner  have  to  do  such  a  mean  thing!" 

The  Rovers  had  all  they  could  do  to  get  to  the 
seats  reserved  for  them.  Each  carried  a  small 
flag,  to  be  waved  as  the  soldiers  passed.  There 
was  quite  a  wait,  and  the  crowd  seemed  to  grow 
denser  every  minute.  Then  from  a  distance  came 
the  fanfare  of  trumpets  and  the  booming  of  many 
drums. 

"Here  they  come!    Here  they  comeP*  was  the 


THE  GREAT  VICTORY  PARADE  169 

glad  shout,  and  soon  a  platoon  of  police  on  horse 
back  swept  by.  Then  followed  a  brass  band  of  a 
hundred  pieces  or  more,  and  the  great  parade  was 
fairly  started. 

To  go  into  the  particulars  of  this  tremendous 
spectacle  would  be  impossible  in  the  limits  of  these 
pages.  Regiment  after  regiment  swept  by,  repre 
senting  every  State  in  the  Union.  There  were 
brass  bands  galore,  with  Old  Glory  everywhere  in 
evidence.  The  crowd  clapped  and  cheered,  and 
sometimes  shouted  itself  hoarse  as  some  favorite 
command  swept  by  with  soldierly  precision.  Here 
and  there  a  hero  was  recognized,  and  then  the  din 
would  increase. 

"Some  parade,  I  say!"  exclaimed  Fred  enthu 
siastically. 

"Isn't  it  wonderful  how  many  soldiers  there 
are?"  marveled  May,  who  sat  next  to  him. 

"When  are  our  boys  coming?"  questioned 
Grandfather  Rover  anxiously. 

"They'll  be  coming  along  pretty  soon  now," 
answered  Jack,  who  had  been  studying  the  pro 
gram  closely.  "They  are  in  the  second  regiment 
after  the  one  now  passing." 

The  New  York  State  troops  were  now  ap 
proaching,  and  the  din  became  terrific,  the  more 
so  as  one  company  after  another  was  recognized. 

"llere   they  come!     Here   they   come!"   ex- 


170    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

claimed  Martha,  who  was  gazing  down  the  line. 

"I  see  them!  They  are  just  at  the  corner!" 
added  Mary. 

"There's  dad !  I  see  dad  P*  screamed  Andy,  to 
make  himself  heard  above  the  noise.  "There  he 
is,  in  the  front  row  on  this  side!" 

"Yes,  and  there  is  my  father!"  yelled  Fred. 
"See  him?  Two  men  away  from  Uncle  Tom!" 

"I  see  dad,"  announced  Jack.  "He's  in  the 
middle.  See  him  with  that  medal  on  his  breast  ?" 

"Hurrah,  boys!  Hurrah  for  you!"  yelled 
Grandfather  Rover,  and  arose  excitedly,  shaking 
his  cane  in  one  hand  and  a  small  flag  in  the  other. 

By  this  time  all  were  on  their  feet,  cheering 
and  waving  their  flags  wildly.  Dick,  Tom  and 
Sam  Rover  saw  them,  and  although  they  did  not 
dare  to  turn  their  heads,  they  smiled  broadly  in 
recognition.  For  them  the  moment  was  just  as 
thrilling  as  it  was  for  those  on  the  stand. 

"Hurrah!  Hurrah!  Hurrah!"  shouted  the 
boys  and  girls,  and  their  parents  and  other  rela 
tives  joined  in  as  strenuously  as  any  one. 

Old  Aunt  Martha  was  crying  openly,  and  the 
other  women  had  also  to  wipe  the  tears  from  their 
eyes. 

"Somehow  it  chokes  me  all  up,"  declared  old 
Uncle  Randolph,  and  blew  his  nose  vigorously. 

The  company  containing  the  Rovers  passed  on 


"  HURRAH  FOR  YOU,  BOYS!"  YELLED  GRANDFATHER  ROVER. 
The  Rover  Boys  in  the  Land  of  Luck.  Page  170 


THE  GREAT  VICTORY  PARADE  171 

and  the  great  parade  continued  hour  after  hour 
until  it  seemed  as  if  there  would  be  no  end  to  that 
grand  procession. 

"Gracious !  I  didn't  know  there  were  so  many 
soldiers  in  the  whole  world,"  declared  Aunt  Mar 
tha  at  length. 

"If  you  are  getting  tired,  Aunt  Martha,  I'll 
have  somebody  take  you  back  to  the  house,"  re 
marked  Mrs.  Dick  Rover,  after  they  had  been 
watching  the  parade  for  four  hours. 

"No,  no.  I  am  going  to  see  it  to  the  end,"  de 
clared  the  old  lady.  "It  will  be  something  to  talk 
about  as  long  as  I  live." 

"Just  think  of  a  lot  of  soldiers  like  these  fight 
ing  all  over  our  farm  at  Valley  Brook,"  was 
Uncle  Randolph's  comment.  "That's  what  they 
did  over  in  France.  It  must  have  been  terrible, 
the  way  things  were  cut  up." 

"My  dad  says  you  wouldn't  believe  it  if  you 
didn't  see  it,"  answered  Randy.  "He  said  some 
of  the  shell  craters  were  big  enough  to  dump  a 
small  barn  in.  Think  of  holes  like  that  in  your 
pasture  lot." 

But  even  the  greatest  of  parades  must  come  to 
an  end,  and  at  last  the  final  body  of  soldiers 
marched  by,  and  then  came  more  police,  followed 
by  a  great  crowd  of  people  that  surged  into  Fifth 
Avenue  like  great  flocks  of  sheep,  hurrying, 


172  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OP  LUCK  ' 

bustling,  and  jostling  in  an  effort  to  get  every 
•way  at  once. 

"Wasn't  it  perfectly  grand  ?"  cried  Mary. 

"It  couldn't  have  been  more  wonderful,"  an 
swered  May. 

"Now  we'll  get  you  back  to  the  house  and  give 
you  something  to  eat,"  said  Mrs.  Dick  Rover  to 
the  old  folks.  "You  certainly  must  be  hungry  as 
well  as  tired." 

"Well,  a  little  bit  of  something  to  eat  wouldn't 
go  bad,  Dora,"  answered  Grandfather  Rover, 
placing  an  affectionate  hand  on  her  shoulder. 
And  then  he  added  softly :  "We're  mighty  proud 
of  our  Dick,  aren't  we?" 

"Proud !  I  should  say  we  are !"  answered  Mrs. 
Rover,  her  whole  face  glowing  with  keen  satis 
faction. 

It  was  decided  that  all  of  the  older  folks,  as 
well  as  the  three  girls,  should  return  to  Riverside 
Drive.  The  boys,  however,  wanted  to  remain  out 
and  see  what  might  take  place  further. 

"We  can  pick  up  a  little  lunch  somewhere — 
some  sandwiches  and  pie  and  maybe  a  glass  of 
milk,"  said  Randy. 

"Anything  will  do  for  me,"  announced  Fred. 
"I'm  almost  too  excited  to  eat." 

"If  you  boys  stay  out  you  take  good  care  of 
yourselves  in  this  awful  jam,"  warned  Mrs.  Tom 


THE  GREAT  VICTORY  PARADE 


173 


Rover.  "And  don't  you  get  into  any  mischief/' 
she  added  to  her  twins. 

The  four  lads  saw  the  others  safely  to  the  auto 
mobiles,  which  were  standing  down  one  of  the 
side  streets,  and  then  came  back  to  Fifth  Avenue. 

"Let's  walk  down  and  look  at  the  decorations 
and  at  the  Arch  of  Victory,"  suggested  Jack,  and 
so  it  was  decided. 

In  many  places  the  sidewalks  were  littered  with 
boxes  which  had  been  used  to  sit  or  stand  upon. 
As  a  consequence,  the  best  place  to  walk  was  in 
the  street,  and  down  this  the  boys  pushed  their 
way  through  the  crowds  which  were  gradually 
beginning  to  thin  out. 

"I  never  imagined  buildings  could  be  so  hand 
somely  decorated,"  declared  Jack.  "Those  flags 
and  banners  and  all  that  mass  of  bunting  must 
have  cost  a  fortune." 

"Yes,  and  think  of  the  money  spent  in  decor 
ating  some  of  these  windows,"  put  in  Fred. 

They  were  gazing  at  a  large  show-window 
filled  with  a  representation  of  American  soldiers 
and  sailors  from  colonial  times  to  the  present 
'day.  There  were  at  least  twenty-five  figures  in 
full  uniform,  and  the  display  was  as  valuable  to 
study  from  an  historical  standpoint  as  it  was  in 
teresting  to  view  as  a  picture. 

"Some  work  to  get  all  those  uniforms  together 


J74    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

and  to  have  everything  exactly  right,"  remarked 
Randy. 

"I  like  the  plain  khaki  of  to-day  as  well  as  any 
of  them,"  announced  Jack.  "The  others  are  more 
gaudy,  but  when  it  comes  to  actual  service — 
Ouch!" 

Jack's  remark  broke  off  abruptly  as  a  small  but 
heavy  box  thrown  from  the  gutter  landed  directly 
on  his  head.  Then  another  box  came  flying 
through  the  air,  to  strike  between  the  three  other 
Rovers.  It  was  followed  by  a  ball  of  soaking- 
wet  and  muddy  newspapers  which  struck  the 
show-window  with  a  thud,  sending  some  dirty 
drops  of  water  into  the  Rover  boys'  faces. 

Fred  was  the  first  to  whirl  around  in  an  en 
deavor  to  see  where  the  two  boxes  and  the  wad- 
ded-up  newspapers  had  come  from.  He  was  just 
in  time  to  see  two  young  fellows  try  to  lose  them 
selves  in  the  rapidly  moving  crowd. 

"Gabe  Werner!"  he  ejaculated.  "There  he 
goes!" 

"Yes,  and  there  is  Bill  Glutts  with  him !"  added 
Andy. 

"What's  that?"  questioned  Jack.  He  had  re 
ceived  a  small  cut  on  one  ear  from  the  flying  box 
and  his  cap  had  been  knocked  over  his  eyes. 

"Werner  and  Glutts  did  it,"  answered  Fred. 
*There  they  go  down  the  street." 


THE  GREAT  VICTORY  PARADE  175 

"If  that's  the  case  we've  got  to  catch  them," 
returned  the  oldest  Rover  boy.  "Come  on, 
quick!" 

All  started  in  pursuit  of  the  two  former  bullies 
of  Colby  Hall.  But  to  follow  them  through  the 
rapidly  moving  crowd  was  not  easy,  and  several 
times  they  were  afraid  the  rascals  would  get  away 
from  them. 

"Here,  here!  Take  ycur  time,"  said  a  police 
man  to  Fred,  as  the  latter  brushed  by  him.  "Take 
your  time." 

"I'm  after  a  fellow  who  ought  to  be  arrested/* 
answered  Fred  quickly. 

"Where  is  he?"  demanded  the  bluecoat  with 
interest. 

"There  he  goes — down  around  the  corner!" 
And  then,  as  the  policeman  showed  no  disposition 
to  leave  his  post,  the  youngest  Rover  boy  hurried 
away  after  the  others. 

Werner  and  Glutts  had  looked  back,  and  seeing 
that  the  Rovers  were  in  pursuit,  they  had  tried  to 
throw  them  off  the  trail  by  passing  around  the 
nearest  corner.  Now  they  headed  in  the  direction 
of  the  East  Side. 

"I  told  you  not  to  bother  with  them,"  panted 
Glutts,  who  was  somewhat  out  of  breath.  "Now, 
for  all  you  know,  they'll  have  us  arrested." 

"Oh,  shut  up  your  whining,  Bill!"  growled 


176    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Werner  in  disgust.  "I  wish  I  had  knocked  that 
Jack  Rover's  head  off  with  the  box." 

"You  came  very  near  busting  the  window." 

"I  wouldn't  care  if  I  did  bust  it,"  answered  the 
other  recklessly. 

"It  don't  look  as  if  that  dose  of  pepper  hurt 
Jack  Rover  much." 

"Never  mind.  I'll  fix  him  some  day,  you  see  if 
I  don't." 

The  two  glanced  back  once  more  and  to  their 
chagrin  saw  that  the  Rovers  had  come  around  the 
corner  and  were  chasing  after  them  faster  than 
ever.  This  caused  Bill  Glutts  to  become  more 
frightened  than  before. 

"Oh,  what  shall  we  do?  They'll  catch  us 
sure !"  he  wailed. 

"No,  they  won't!  Come  on!"  yelled  Werner, 
and  caught  his  crony  by  the  arm. 

He  was  too  excited  to  notice  carefully  where 
he  was  running,  and  the  next  instant  he,  followed 
by  Glutts,  brought  up  against  a  stand  on  the  side 
walk  in  front  of  a  small  shop.  This  stand  was 
filled  with  various  articles  of  bric-a-brac,  and  it 
went  down  with  a  crash,  carrying  dozens  of  small 
articles  with  it. 


BOUND    FOR    TEXAS 

"Hi!  HI!  phat — phat  you  mean  py  knocking 
mine  stand  ofer?"  cried  oat  a  voice  from  the 
doorway  of  the  building,  and  a  small,  stockily 
built  foreigner  came  running  forward. 

"Get  off  of  me!"  spluttered  Bill  Glutts,  who 
was  under  Gabe  Werner.  "You're  pressing  some 
of  this  broken  stuff  into  my  face!" 

Werner  could  not  answer,  being  too  surprised 
by  the  sudden  turn  affairs  had  taken.  But  then, 
as  he  realized  that  the  four  Rovers  were  close  at 
hand,  he  rolled  over  on  the  sidewalk,  upsetting  a 
small  boy  as  he  did  so,  and  then  managed  to 
scramble  to  his  feet. 

"Come  on,  Bill !"  he  panted,  and  set  off  down 
the  street  at  the  best  gait  he  could  command. 

What  Bill  Glutts  had  said  about  being  pushed 
into  the  broken  bric-a-brac  was  true.  His  face 
had  come  down  into  the  midst  of  several  broken 
vases,  and  one  hand  rested  on  a  broken  bit  of 
glassware.  When  he  arose  to  his  feet  he  found 
himself  held  fast  by  the  storekeeper. 

177 


178    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"You  don't  vas  git  avay  from  me  already!" 
bawled  the  owner  of  the  place.  "You  vas  pay  for 
de  damages  you  make." 

"You  let  me  go !  It  wasn't  my  fault !"  stormed 
Glutts. 

By  this  time  the  Rovers  had  come  up.  Bill 
Glutts  looked  the  picture  of  despair,  with  blood 
flowing  from  several  cuts  on  his  face  and  on  one 
hand. 

"Where  is  Werner?"  questioned  Jack  quickly. 

"There  he  goes !"  exclaimed  Randy.  "Come  on 
after  him  before  he  gets  away." 

"Some  one  had  better  stay  here  and  see  that 
Glutts  doesn't  get  away,"  suggested  Fred. 

"All  right,  Fred,  you  and  Andy  stay  here  until 
we  get  back,"  answered  Randy,  and  then  he  sped 
off  after  Jack,  who  was  already  running  at  his 
best  rate  of  speed  in  the  direction  Gabe  Werner 
had  taken. 

By  this  time  Werner  was  thoroughly  scared. 
He  knew  that  he  was  liable  to  arrest  for  smash 
ing  the  bric-a-brac  stand,  and  he  had  no  desire  to 
fall  into  the  clutches  of  the  Rovers,  feeling  in 
stinctively  that  they  might  pummel  him  thoroughly 
before  handing  him  over  to  the  authorities.  Be 
sides  that,  he  remembered  that  they  might  hold 
him  to  account  for  the  pepper  incident. 

He  had  turned  down  a  side  street  where  there 


BOUND  FOR  TEXAS  179 

were  a  number  of  tenements.  He  dove  through 
an  open  doorway  and  ran  the  length  of  the  hall, 
coming  out  of  the  building  at  the  rear.  Here 
there  was  a  small  yard  surrounded  by  a  board 
fence.  He  leaped  the  fence  with  ease,  and  then 
dove  into  the  back  end  of  another  tenement  and 
out  at  the  front,  and  soon  lost  himself  in  a  crowd 
on  the  other  street. 

Jack  and  Randy  hunted  around  for  fully  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  and  were  then  compelled  to 
give  up  the  chase. 

"It's  too  bad,"  declared  the  oldest  Rover  boy, 
"but  it  can't  be  helped.  Let  us  go  back  and  see 
what  they  have  done  with  Glutts." 

They  soon  found  their  way  back  to  where  the 
bric-a-brac  stand  had  been  smashed.  A  woman 
was  now  in  charge,  and  she  was  just  finishing  the 
cleaning  away  of  the  wreckage.  Fred  and  Andy 
stood  nearby  watching  her.  Both  were  on  a 
broad  grin. 

"What's  the  matter?  Couldn't  you  catch  Wer 
ner?"  questioned  Fred. 

"No,  he  slipped  us,"  answered  Jack,  and  gave 
the  particulars. 

"The  police  just  carted  Bill  Glutts  off  in  a  patrol 
wagon,"  announced  Andy.  "The  keeper  of  the 
store,  a  Bohemian  with  an  unpronounceable  name, 
went  along.  He  declared  Glutts  would  have  to 


l8o  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

pay  the  bill  in  full,  and  even  then  he  wanted  him 
put  in  prison  for  life  or  beheaded,  or  something 
like  that." 

"Phew !  In  that  case  Glutts  will  get  all  that  is 
coming  to  him !"  exclaimed  Randy. 

"He  sure  will  if  that  Bohemian  has  anything  to 
do  with  it." 

The  four  boys  took  another  look  around  for 
Werner,  and  then  walked  back  to  Fifth  Avenue 
and  a  little  later  went  home.  Here  a  fine  dinner 
awaited  them. 

"It's  certainly  been  a  banner  day,"  remarked 
Fred.  "I'll  never  forget  it  as  long  as  I  live." 

After  that  two  weeks  passed  rapidly.  The 
boys  went  on  a  visit  to  Valley  Brook  Farm,  and 
also  met  Spouter,  Gif  and  several  of  their  other 
school  chums.  They  had  a  glorious  Fourth  of 
July,  and  then  came  back  to  New  York  City. 

During  that  time  Jack  wrote  two  letters  to 
Ruth,  and  received  one  in  return.  The  girl  stated 
that  she  felt  quite  well,  but  that  her  eyes  were 
still  bothering  her  a  good  deal. 

"It's  too  bad,  Jack,"  said  Martha,  when  her 
brother  spoke  about  this.  "Ruth  is  not  the  one 
to  complain.  Her  eyes  are  probably  in  worse 
shape  than  she  is  willing  to  admit." 

"I'm  worried  greatly,  Martha,"  he  answered. 
"I  wish  I  could  do  something  for  her." 


BOUND  FOR  TEXAS  181 

In  a  roundabout  way  the  Rovers  heard  of  what 
had  happened  to  Bill  Glutts.  He  had  been  locked 
up  over  night,  and  in  the  morning  some  relatives 
had  come  to  his  assistance  and  through  paying  a 
fine  had  had  him  released.  Then  Glutts  and  his 
relatives  had  paid  for  the  damage  done  to  the 
bric-a-brac  stand,  a  damage  amounting  to  nearly 
a  hundred  dollars.  In  the  meanwhile,  so  far  as 
they  could  ascertain,  nothing  further  had  been 
heard  of  Gabe  Werner. 

"Werner  is  evidently  going  to  keep  shady,"  re 
marked  Fred.  "Perhaps  we'll  never  see  him 
again."  But  in  this  surmise  the  youngest  Rover 
boy  was  mistaken,  as  later  events  proved. 

At  last  came  another  red-letter  day  when  the 
command  to  which  the  older  Rovers  belonged  was 
mustered  out  of  the  United  States  service.  Tom 
and  Sam  came  in  one  day,  and  Dick  the  next  eve 
ning. 

"Now  for  civilian  clothes  once  more!"  an 
nounced  Tom  Rover.  "And  then  I  guess  it  will 
be  high  time  for  me  to  get  back  to  the  offices  in 
iWall  Street." 

"And  I'm  with  you,  Tom,"  said  Sam.  "I'd 
rather  be  at  my  desk  than  on  a  battlefield,  any 
day." 

When  Dick  Rover  came  back  he  was  more 
jfilled  than  ever  with  a  desire  to  get  down  to  Texas 


182    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

to  look  over  the  land  which  had  been  left  to  him 
by  Lorimer  Spell. 

"I've  found  out  that  it  is  right  in  a  territory 
where  a  number  of  well-paying  oil  wells  have 
been  located,"  said  he.  "But  I'm  not  altogether 
certain  that  his  claim  is  a  sure  one,  and  it  might 
be  just  possible  that  some  prospectors  might  try 
to  jump  it,  now  that  word  has  gone  forth  that  he 
was  killed  in  battle.  They  may  think  he  died 
without  leaving  any  heir." 

"Well,  Dad,  you  know  what  I  said,"  cried  Jack 
quickly.  "If  you  went  to  Texas  I'd  like  first  rate 
to  go  along.  Maybe  I  could  help  you  with  your 
claim." 

"Oh,  Uncle  Dick!  won't  you  take  us  all  with 
you?"  pleaded  Fred.  "It  would  be  a  grand  out 
ing  for  this  Summer.  We've  been  working  very 
hard  at  school,  you  know." 

"A  trip  to  Texas  would  put  us  in  A,  Number 
One  condition  for  Colby  Hall  this  Fall,"  added 
Andy,  with  a  grin. 

"We  wouldn't  interfere  with  your  business  in 
the  least,"  commented  his  twin. 

At  first  Dick  Rover  was  rather  doubtful  about 
taking  four  lively  boys  with  him  on  the  trip.  But 
then  he  felt  that  they  deserved  something  for  ap 
plying  themselves  so  diligently  to  their  studies  dur 
ing  the  Winter,  and  also  for  helping  matters  to 


BOUND  FOR  TEXAS  183 

run  smoothly  while  he  and  his  brothers  had  been 
in  France. 

"You  can  go/'  he  announced  the  next  day,  after 
a  consultation  with  his  brothers  and  their  wives. 
"But  I  am  going  very  quickly — by  to-morrow 
night  at  the  latest.  Can  you  boys  get  ready  so 
soon?" 

"Can  we  get  ready!"  exclaimed  Andy.  "Say, 
Uncle  Dick,  just  let  me  run  upstairs  and  get  an 
extra  pair  of  socks  and  a  toothbrush  and  I'll  be 
ready  to  go  to  the  North  Pole  if  you  say  so!" 
And  at  this  sally  there  was  a  general  laugh. 

After  that  matters  moved  with  incredible  swift 
ness.  It  was  decided  that  the  boys  should  take 
no  baggage  but  what  would  go  in  their  suitcases 
for  the  trip,  and  these  were  speedily  packed.  In 
the  meanwhile,  Dick  Rover  obtained  the  neces 
sary  railroad  tickets  and  sleeping-car  accommoda 
tions. 

"Hurrah!  we're  off  for  Texas  and  the  oil 
fields!"  cried  Fred. 

"Off  for  the  land  of  luck!"  exclaimed  Dick 
Rover,  with  a  smile. 

"The  land  of  luck?"  questioned  Jack.  "Is  that 
what  they  call  it,  Dad?" 

"Yes,  Son.  And  it's  truly  the  land  of  luck  for 
some.  For  others  it  is  the  land  of  bitter  disap 
pointment." 


184  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Then  I  would  call  it  the  land  of  luck — good  or 
bad,"  announced  Andy. 

They  were  to  leave  from  the  Pennsylvania  Ter 
minal  late  in  the  evening.  The  whole  family  had 
dinner  together,  and  those  to  be  left  behind  did 
not  hesitate  to  give  the  boys  a  great  deal  of  ad 
vice. 

"I  hope  you  don't  fall  in  with  any  rough  char 
acters  down  there,"  said  Mrs.  Dick  Rover.  "They 
tell  me  there  are  some  men  in  the  oil  fields  who 
are  anything  but  nice." 

"You  may  find  you  will  have  to  rough  it,"  said 
Tom  Rover.  "I  understand  some  of  the  oil  fields 
are  ten  or  fifteen  miles  away  from  the  nearest 
town." 

"Well,  we've  roughed  it  before,"  answered 
Jack. 

The  mothers  of  the  boys  might  have  been  more 
upset,  but  they  felt  relieved  to  think  that  Dick 
would  be  with  the  lads. 

Soon  the  time  came  for  parting,  and  all  drove 
quickly  to  the  railroad  terminal.  Then  finally 
good-byes  were  said,  and  those  bound  for  Texas 
hurried  downstairs  to  the  big  underground  train 
station.  Porters  with  their  bags  took  them  to  the 
proper  car,  and  they  soon  found  themselves  settled. 
A  few  minutes  later  they  were  off. 

The  trip  during  the  night  was  uneventful,  and, 


BOUND  FOR  TEXAS  185 

strange  as  it  may  seem,  all  of  the  boys  slept 
soundly.  But  they  were  up  early  and  ready  for 
their  breakfast  just  as  soon  as  that  meal  was  an 
nounced  from  the  diner. 

"I'm  afraid  we're  going  to  have  a  rainy  day  of 
it,"  said  Dick  Rover,  as  the  four  boys  sat  down, 
to  a  large  table  while  he  took  his  place  at  a 
smaller  one  opposite.  "But  as  we'll  be  on  board 
all  day,  it  won't  matter." 

During  the  meal  Jack  noticed  that  his  father 
was  reading  a  letter  very  attentively,  and  when 
the  party  walked  back  to  their  Pullman  he  men 
tioned  this  fact. 

"This  is  a  letter  from  an  oil  well  promoter," 
said  Dick  Rover.  "I  don't  exactly  know  what  to 
make  of  it.  He  makes  a  proposition  which  on 
the  face  of  it  looks  rather  good,  but  somehow  or 
other  I  have  got  it  in  my  head  that  he  is  a  crook." 

"In  that  case,  Dad,  I'm  sure  you  won't  want  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  him." 

"Is  he  a  New  York  man  or  one  from  down  in 
Texas?"  questioned  Fred,  who  overheard  this 
conversation. 

"He  operates  mostly  in  Texas,  although  he  has 
some  connection  in  New  York.  He  is  very  anx 
ious  to  form  a  new  company,  and,  of  course,  sell 
the  stock.  Well,  I  am  willing  to  go  into  a  new 
fhing  and  take  stock  for  myself  and  try  to  dis- 


166    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

pose  of  some  to  others,  provided  the  company  is 
really  a  good  one.  But  I  don't  want  to  get  mixed 
up  in  any  shady  transaction." 

"I  should  say  not!"  cried  Jack.  "The  Rover 
name  has  always  been  a  clean  one." 

"What  is  the  name  of  this  promoter?"  ques 
tioned  Fred. 

"Carson  Davenport." 

"What's  that?"  exclaimed  Jack,  somewhat 
startled. 

"Carson  Davenport.  Did  you  ever  hear  that 
name  before?" 

"I  certainly  did,  Dad.  This  Carson  Davenport 
has  a  son  Perry,  and  this  Perry  Davenport  and 
Nappy  Martell  were  great  chums,  and  unless  I 
am  mistaken,  Mr.  Martell  and  Carson  Davenport 
were  once  partners  in  some  mining  scheme.  I 
heard  Perry  and  Nappy  talking  about  it  several 
times." 

"Humph!  if  this  Carson  Davenport  was  a  part 
ner  of  Nelson  Martell,  I  don't  know  as  I  want 
anything  to  do  with  him.  That  whole  bunch  is 
tarred  with  the  same  stick.  Not  one  of  them  is 
honest,"  declared  Dick  Rover  bluntly. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"WELL,  here  we  are  in  Texas  at  last." 

"And  what  immense  stretches  of  country  there 
seem  to  be,  Jack.  Miles  and  miles  without  a  house 
or  any  other  building." 

"You  must  remember,  boys,  that  Texas  is  the 
largest  State  in  the  Union,"  came  from  Dick 
Rover.  "Some  of  the  farms,  or  ranches,  down 
here  cover  thousands  of  acres." 

"How  much  farther  have  we  to  ride?"  ques 
tioned  Randy. 

"Ten  miles,  that's  all,"  replied  his  uncle. 

They  had  made  two  changes  since  leaving  New 
York  City,  but  each  stop  had  been  less  than  an 
hour  in  duration ;  so  to  these  boys  so  used  to  out 
door  activities  it  felt  as  if  the  whole  journey  had 
been  continuous.  They  were  bound  for  a  small 
town  which  in  years  gone  by  had  been  known  as 
Steerville,  but  the  name  of  which  since  the  oil 
boom  had  been  changed  to  Columbina.  This,  so 
far  as  Dick  Rover  could  ascertain,  was  the  nearest 

187 


188  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OP  LUCK 

point  to  where  the  Lorimer  Spell  tract  was  lo 
cated. 

"We'll  take  a  look  around  Columbina  first," 
Jack's  father  had  said.  "I  want  to  see  how  that 
claim  looks.  Then  I'll  take  a  run  over  to  Wichita 
Falls  and  get  those  documents  belonging  to  Spell 
from  the  safe  deposit  box  in  the  bank." 

"I  see  an  oil  well !"  shouted  Fred  presently,  and 
lie  pointed  out  of  the  car  window  to  where  the 
huge  derrick  could  be  seen  over  a  distant  rise  of 
.ground. 

"There  is  another!  And  another!"  added 
Andy,  a  few  minutes  later. 

"Now  we  must  be  coming  into  the  oil  fields," 
announced  Dick  Rover,  and  his  face  showed  that 
he  was  just  as  eager  as  the  boys.  "Just  think  of 
how  some  of  these  wells  have  made  a  great  many 
comparatively  poor  people  almost  millionaires 
over  night!" 

"It  sounds  like  a  fairy  tale,  doesn't  it,  Dad?" 
exclaimed  Jack.  "No  wonder  they  call  this  the 
land  of  luck." 

"But  don't  forget  the  disappointments,  Son. 
Many  a  man  has  put  his  all  into  sinking  a  well 
only  to  find  it  absolutely  dry." 

"And  wells  cost  so  much  to  sink,  too !"  put  in 
Fred.  "Ten  to  forty  thousand  dollars  each !  It's 
an  awful  amount  to  gamble  away." 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK  189 

"Not  all  of  the  wells  cost  that  much,  Fred.  In 
some  places  they  strike  oil  at  a  distance  of  a  few 
hundred  feet.  But  here  they  have  to  go  down 
much  deeper.  Many  good  wells  are  down  three 
thousand  feet  or  more." 

The  train  had  stopped  at  one  or  two  towns,  and 
now  the  porter  announced  that  the  next  stop  would 
be  Columbina,  and  he  took  their  suitcases  to  the 
platform  for  them.  Presently  they  rolled  up  to  a 
small  wooden  station,  and  the  travelers  alighted. 
Then  the  heavy  train  rolled  westward. 

"Welcome  to  Columbina!"  cried  Andy  jest 
ingly.  "Some  big  city,  I  must  declare.  I  won 
der  where  the  Waldorf- Vanderbilt  Hotel  is  lo 
cated?" 

"What's  the  matter  with  going  to  the  Ritz- 
Copley  Square?"  added  his  twin,  with  a  grin. 

"Perhaps  we'll  be  thankful  to  get  any  kind  of 
a  shake-down,  boys,"  announced  Dick  Rover. 
"This  certainly  is  worse  than  I  anticipated,  al 
though  I  knew  that  we  couldn't  expect  much  in 
one  of  these  boom  towns." 

To  a  newcomer  Columbina  certainly  offered  no 
special  attractions.  Only  a  few  years  before  it 
had  been  nothing  but  a  point  where  the  ranchmen 
had  shipped  their  steers  on  the  railroad,  with  a 
tiny  stockyard  and  a  small  ranchmen's  hotel  and 
saloon  combined.  Now  the  boom  city,  if  such  it 


190    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

might  be  called,  consisted  of  a  long  straggling 
main  street  with  a  much  dilapidated  boardwalk  on 
one  side  only.  In  the  middle  of  the  street  the  mud 
was  all  of  a  foot  deep,  and  through  this  wagons 
and  automobiles  plowed  along  as  best  they  could. 
All  of  the  buildings  were  of  wood,  and  none  of 
them  more  than  three  stories  in  height.  There 
were  half  a  dozen  general  stores,  the  same  num 
ber  of  eating  and  drinking  places,  and  two  build 
ings  which  were  designated  as  hotels,  O'Brian's 
being  one  and  Smedley's  the  other.  There  was 
also  a  long,  shed-like  moving  picture  theater  ad 
vertised  to  be  open  twice  a  week,  in  the  evening. 

"I  was  advised  by  a  man  on  the  train  to  try 
the  Smedley  Hotel  first,"  said  Dick  Rover.  "He 
thought  I'd  find  a  better  class  of  people  there  than 
at  the  O'Brian  place.  Wait  till  I  ask  the  station 
master  where  the  hotel  is  located." 

"You  can't  miss  it,"  said  the  station  man,  when 
applied  to.  "It's  down  at  the  end  of  that  board 
walk.  If  you  go  any  further  you'll  sink  into  mud 
up  to  your  knees,"  and  he  smiled  feebly. 

"Any  chance  of  our  getting  in  there  ?" 

"Just  as  good  a  chance  as  getting  in  anywhere. 
They  tell  me  O'Brian's  place  is  so  full  they're 
falling  out  of  the  windows,"  and  the  station  mas 
ter  chuckled  over  his  little  joke. 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 


191 


"Anything  in  the  way  of  a  taxicab  around  here 
to  take  us  and  our  baggage  up  there?" 

"Taxicab  ?  The  last  man  to  run  a  taxicab  was 
Jim  Lumpkins,  and  now  Jim's  struck  oil  and  he's 
so  rich  he  won't  do  nothing.  If  you  want  to  get 
up  to  Smedley's  I  reckon  you'll  have  to  hoof  it." 

"Come  on,  Dad,  let's  walk  up  there,"  said  Jack. 

"But  your  suitcases  are  pretty  heavy,"  answered 
his  father,  with  a  smile. 

"Oh,  we  won't  mind  those,"  declared  Fred. 
"We've  hiked  around  with  just  as  much  to  carry 
many  times." 

"I  sha'n't  mind  it  myself,"  declared  his  uncle. 
"Campaigning  in  France  was  a  splendid  thing  to 
harden  one's  muscles." 

They  set  off  down  the  one  business  street  of 
which  Columbina  boasted.  They  had  to  pick  their 
way  carefully  along  the  dilapidated  boardwalk. 
At  one  point  they  came  opposite  O'Brian's  Ho 
tel.  Downstairs  was  a  saloon,  and  in  this  a  noisy 
bunch  were  talking  and  singing. 

"I  don't  know  as  I  would  care  to  stop  there," 
remarked  Randy.  "It  looks  like  rather  a  tough 
hole  to  me." 

"You  are  right,"  responded  Jack.  "I'd  rather 
go  to  some  private  house,  if  I  could  find  one,  or 
else  buy  a  tent  and  hire  a  place  where  we  could 
pitch  it." 


192  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Gee,  that's  an  idea!"  cried  Andy.  "I'd  much 
rather  go  camping  out  and  do  my  own  cooking 
than  put  up  with  just  any  old  thing." 

At  length  they  came  to  Smedley's  Hotel.  It 
was  a  new  building,  three  stories  in  height,  with  a 
restaurant  occupying  one-half  of  the  lower  floor. 
Half  a  dozen  men  were  occupying  chairs  on  the 
front  piazza,  and  they  eyed  the  newcomers  curi 
ously. 

"Looks  fairly  clean,  anyway,"  whispered  Fred 
to  his  cousins.  "I  wouldn't  want  to  get  into  some 
old  ranch  that  was  full  of  bugs." 

The  office  of  the  hotel  was  about  twelve  feet 
square,  with  a  sanded  floor.  On  one  side  was  a 
plain  wooden  settee,  and  on  the  other  an  equally 
plain  counter  on  which  rested  a  register  and  a  bell. 
Behind  the  counter  was  a  tall,  freckle-faced  man 
with  a  shock  of  red  hair. 

"Good  afternoon,  gentlemen,"  he  said  hospit 
ably.  "What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"We  want  to  know  if  we  can  be  accommo 
dated  here,"  answered  Dick  Rover.  "There  are 
five  of  us." 

"How  long  do  you  want  to  stay?" 

"I  don't  know  exactly.  Several  days  at  least, 
and  maybe  a  week  or  two." 

"I  see."  The  hotel  proprietor  scratched  his 
head  thoughtfully.  "I've  got  one  big  room  left 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 


193 


and  one  small  room  directly  opposite.  The  small 
room  has  only  a  single  bed  in  it,  but  the  other 
room  has  a  double  bed  and  I  could  easily  put 
two  cots  in  there  besides  that." 

"Would  you  mind  showing  us  the  quarters?" 
questioned  Jack's  father.  Experience  had  taught 
him  when  in  out-of-the-way  places  not  to  accept 
hotel  accommodations  until  he  had  inspected  them. 

"Sure  thing,  Brother.    Just  follow  me." 

The  boys  waited  below  while  Dick  Rover  and 
the  hotel  man  went  upstairs.  A  minute  later  they 
came  down,  and  then  Jack's  father  registered  for 
the  entire  crowd. 

"You  pay  for  your  meals  in  the  restaurant 
when  you  get  'em,"  announced  the  hotel  man. 
"The  rooms  are  separate.  Three  dollars  each  per 
day." 

The  rooms  to  which  they  had  been  assigned 
were  on  the  third  floor  of  the  hotel.  One  was 
amply  large  for  all  of  the  boys,  and  the  other, 
while  much  smaller,  had  good  ventilation  and 
Dick  Rover  said  it  would  suit  him  very  well. 

"The  whole  outfit  is  better  than  I  was  afraid  it 
might  be,"  he  announced.  "Some  of  these  boom 
towns  have  wretched  quarters  for  newcomers.  In 
fact,  I've  read  in  the  newspapers  that  in  many 
places  the  newcomers  had  to  roll  themselves  in 
blankets  and  sleep  out  in  the  fields." 


194    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"I  was  reading  about  one  place  where  they  set 
up  cots  on  the  floor  of  a  general  store  at  night  and 
sold  the  right  to  sleep  on  a  cot  until  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning  for  one  dollar,"  said  Randy. 

There  was  no  running  water,  but  each  room: 
was  supplied  with  a  bowl  and  pitcher,  and  after 
the  extra  cots  were  placed  in  the  larger  apartment 
an  extra  bucket  of  water  was  also  brought  up  by 
a  maid. 

Although  they  did  not  know  it,  the  Rovers  had 
no  sooner  disappeared  upstairs  than  two  of  the 
men  sitting  on  the  veranda  of  the  hotel  came  into 
the  office  and  looked  over  the  register. 

"Five  Rovers,  and  all  from  New  York  City," 
muttered  one  of  the  men,  and  gazed  knowingly  at 
his  companion. 

"Four  of  them  were  nothing  but  kids,"  returned 
the  other.  "It's  only  the  man  who  counts,  and 
his  name  seems  to  be  Richard  Rover." 

"Do  you  think  he  is  the  same  Rover  ?" 

"I  shouldn't  wonder,  Tate.  That  name  isn't  a 
common  one.  However,  we  had  better  make  sure 
before  we  make  another  move." 

Andy  and  Fred  were  the  first  to  get  through 
washing  up,  and  then  they  came  downstairs  to 
take  a  look  around  before  going  into  the  dining- 
room  with  the  others  for  supper.  They  came  out 
on  the  hotel  porch,  and  were  surveying  the  scene 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK  195 

before  them  when  the  two  men  who  had  inspected 
the  hotel  register  lounged  up  to  them. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  our  town?"  ques 
tioned  one  of  them  pleasantly. 

"I  haven't  seen  enough  of  it  to  form  an  opin 
ion,"  answered  Fred. 

"It  will  take  us  a  week  or  two,  I  suppose,  to 
take  in  all  the  sights,"  came  from  Andy,  with  a 
grin. 

"It  might  take  you  a  week  or  two  if  you  went 
on  foot  through  the  mud,"  answered  the  second 
man.  And  then  he  continued:  "I  suppose  you 
came  from  a  distance,  eh?" 

"We  came  from  New  York." 

"Going  to  invest  in  some  oil  wells,  I  suppose?" 
remarked  the  first  man  who  had  spoken,  and  he 
smiled  broadly. 

"That  depends  on  how  we  find  things  here," 
answered  Fred.  "You  see,  my  uncle  is  interested 
in  a  tract  of  land  they  say  has  oil  on  it.  Of 
course  he'll  want  to  make  an  investigation  before 
he  goes  ahead." 

"Is  that  man  who  is  with  you  your  uncle?" 

"Yes." 

"Is  the  tract  of  land  he  is  interested  in  near 
here?"  questioned  the  second  man. 

"I  don't  know  how  close  it  is  to  this  town." 

"What's  the  tract  called?     If  you  don't  know 


196  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

exactly  where  it  is,  perhaps  we  can  help  you  lo 
cate  it." 

"It's  the  Lorimer  Spell  tract,"  answered  Fred 
innocently.  He  thought  the  men  were  just  asking 
out  of  idle  curiosity. 

"Oh,  I  see."  The  man  frowned  and  looked  at 
his  companion. 

"Do  you  know  anything  about  that  tract  ?" 

"Oh,  I've  heard  of  it.  It's  up  on  the  north  side 
of  the  town.  I  understand  Spell  was  shot  during 
the  war,"  the  man  continued,  looking  at  the  boys. 

"He  was,"  answered  Andy.  "And  he  left  all 
his  property  to  my  Uncle  Dick,  who  once  saved 
his  life." 

"Oh,  that's  it,  is  it!"  cried  one  of  the  men. 
"Seems  to  me  I  heard  something  about  that.  Your 
uncle  played  the  regular  hero  act." 

"As  I  said  before,  he  saved  Lorimer  Spell's 
life,  and  did  it  at  the  risk  of  his  own.  It  was  in 
the  midst  of  one  of  the  fiercest  fights." 

At  this  moment  Jack  and  Randy  came  rushing 
down  the  stairs  and  out  on  the  porch  of  the  hotel 
in  great  excitement. 

"We  just  saw  somebody  up  the  street!"  ex 
claimed  Jack.  "And  who  do  you  think  it  was? 
Gabe  Werner!" 


CHAPTER   XX 
PLOTTING  AGAINST  DICK  ROVBK 

"GABE  WERNER!" 

"Where  is  he?" 

"Up  the  street,"  answered  Randy.  "Come  on 
after  him." 

"Who's  the  man  you  are  after?"  questioned  one 
of  the  men  who  had  been  interviewing  Andy  and 
Fred. 

"He's  a  young  fellow  who  once  went  to  a  mili 
tary  academy  with  us.  He's  a  regular  bully  and, 
did  something  for  which  he  ought  to  be  locked 
up,"  was  Fred's  reply,  and  then  he  rushed  down 
into  the  street,  following  his  three  cousins. 

"How  can  Gabe  Werner  be  down  here?"  ques 
tioned  Andy.  "Why,  we  left  him  in  New  York 
City!" 

"I  can't  help  that,  Andy.  It  was  Werner  just 
as  sure  as  I  am  standing  here.  I  just  happened 
to  glance  out  of  the  window  and  saw  him  cross 
ing  the  roadway.  He  turned  his  face  straight 
toward  me,  and  I  couldn't  help  but  recognize 
him." 

197 


198  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Where  did  he  go?" 

"I'll  point  out  the  place  when  we  get  there." 

By  this  time  the  four  Rovers  had  left  the  board 
walk  and  were  plowing  along  on  the  side  of  the 
road  through  mud  that  varied  from  an  inch  to 
six  inches  in  depth.  They  had  started  to  run,  but 
were  soon  compelled  to  slow  up. 

"Gee,  this  is  something  fierce !"  panted  Andy. 

"Oh,  you  cinder  path!"  chanted  his  twin. 
"Wouldn't  you  like  to  do  a  hundred-yard  dash 
on  this  road?" 

"It's  not  much  farther,"  announced  Jack.  "I 
saw  him  heading  for  that  shack  yonder." 

The  place  he  mentioned  was  a  small  building 
erected  of  rough  boards,  with  a  galvanized  roof. 
They  neared  the  shack  to  find  two  men  sitting 
before  it  on  a  log  smoking  their  pipes.  They  ap-, 
peared  somewhat  startled. 

"Did  a  young  fellow  just  pass  this  way?"  ques 
tioned  Jack  quickly. 

The  two  men  looked  at  the  Rovers  curiously, 
and  then  one  shook  his  head. 

"Don't  think  he  did,  Stranger.  I  didn't  see  any 
body,  did  you,  Tom  ?" 

"No,"  was  the  positive  answer. 

By  the  look  on  their  faces  Jack  felt  that  the 
men  were  not  telling  the  truth.  Yet  what  he  was 
to  do  he  did  not  know. 


PLOTTING  AGAINST  DICK  ROVER 


199 


"Maybe  he  went  back  to  that  garage,"  he  sug 
gested,  pointing  to  a  smaller  building  in  the  rear. 

"Look  around  if  you  think  anybody  is  there," 
said  the  first  man  who  had  spoken,  and  the  boys 
hurried  down  to  the  garage,  which  stood  open. 
As  they  did  this  one  of  the  men  sauntered  into  the 
shack. 

"Say,  what's  the  meaning  of  this?"  he  demanded 
of  Gabe  Werner,  who  stood  hiding  behind  a  door. 

"I'll  tell  you  as  soon  as  they  go  away,"  was  the 
answer  of  the  former  bully  of  Colby  Hall.  "Don't 
let  them  come  in  here  and  see  me." 

"All  right,  they  sha'n't  come  in,"  was  the  man's 
laconic  reply ;  and  then  he  went  outside  again,  to 
resume  his  smoking. 

Having  walked  around  the  garage  and  peered 
inside,  the  four  Rovers  walked  again  to  the  shack. 
The  man  who  had  just  come  out  of  the  building 
leered  at  them. 

"Didn't  find  the  fellow  you  were  after,  did 
you?"  he  queried. 

"No,"  answered  Jack  shortly.  He  did  not  like, 
the  appearance  of  the  man  in  the  least. 

"Want  to  see  him  particularly?" 

"I  want  to  give  him  a  good  thrashing — that's 
what  I  want  to  do !"  exclaimed  Jack.  "And  af te^ 
that  I  might  turn  him  over  to  the  police,  if  therej 
is  any  such  thing  in  this  town." 


200  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK  ; 

"We  haven't  any  police  here.  We  run  things 
to  suit  ourselves." 

"What  do  you  want  to  lick  him  for?"  ques 
tioned  the  other  man. 

"He  threw  pepper  in  my  eyes  once,  and  he's, 
done  a  lot  of  other  things  he  oughtn't  to  have, 
done,"  returned  Jack,  and  then  turned  back  to  the; 
hotel,  and  his  cousins  followed. 

"Those  two  men  were  on  the  hotel  veranda 
when  we  first  went  there,"  said  Randy.  "I  no 
ticed  them,  and  I  did  not  like  their  looks  at  all." 

"Do  you  know  what  I  think?"  returned  Jack. 
"I  believe  Gabe  Werner  was  in  that  shack  all  the 
time.  I  think  he  must  have  seen  us  coming  and, 
given  those  fellows  the  tip.  They  both  tried  to. 
appear  cool,  but  they  were  both  flustered." 

"But  what  can  Gabe  Werner  be  doing  in  this 
out-of-the-way  place?"  demanded  Fred. 

"He  probably  came  here,  Fred,  just  for  the  ex 
citement.  Hundreds  of  young  fellows  have  drifted 
to  the  oil  fields  just  as  years  ago  they  drifted  to 
the  gold  fields.  They  gamble  in  oil  stocks  and  doj 
what  they  can,  trying  to  strike  it  rich.  It's  a 
great  temptation  to  any  fellow  who  hasn't  a  well- 
paying  job  at  home." 

"But  Gabe  Werner  ought  to  be  going  to  school,** 
put  in  Andy. 

True,  Andy.    But  Gabe  himself  thinks  he  is 


PLOTTING  AGAINST  DICK  ROVER         2OI 

bid  enough  to  do  as  he  pleases.  Evidently  f  romj 
the  way  he  acts  his  folks  can  no  longer  control 
him."  " 

When  the  boys  got  back  to  the  hotel  they  found 
Dick  Rover  looking  for  them.  He  listened  in  sur 
prise  to  what  they  had  to  say. 

"It  certainly  is  odd  if  that  Gabe  Werner  is 
here,"  he  said.  "And  more  than  likely  you  are 
right — otherwise  that  fellow  wouldn't  have  taken 
such  pains  to  hide  himself.  Well,  if  he  is  here, 
you  must  watch  that  he  doesn't  play  any  more 
tricks  on  you." 

A  fair  supper  was  had  at  the  hotel.  During; 
the  meal  both  Fred  and  Andy  noticed  that  the  two 
men  who  had  questioned  them  in  the  hotel  office 
concerning  the  Lorimer  Spell  claim  were  watch 
ing  their  Uncle  Dick  closely. 

"They  seem  to  want  to  know  all  about  our  busi 
ness,"  said  Fred,  when  mentioning  this  to  his 
uncle. 

"Oh,  that's  the  case  in  every  oil  town  or  min 
ing  camp,"  answered  Dick  Rover.  "Men  are  al 
ways  anxious  to  get  a  lead,  as  they  call  it,  on 
what  is  going  to  happen  next.  If  they  think  a 
fellow  may  strike  it  rich  in  some  particular  loca 
tion  they  rush  after  him  like  a  flock  of  sheep  and 
try  to  get  claims  as  close  to  him  as  possible." 

After  the  meal  was  finished  the  boys  took  a 


'202  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

walk  around  the  town  to  see  how  the  place  looked 
at  night  and  thinking  they  might  possibly  run 
across  Gabe  Werner. 

The  narrow  street  with  the  single  boardwalk 
was  crowded  with  people,  some  well  dressed  and 
others  in  the  roughest  of  costumes.  There  was 
loud  talking  and  jesting,  and  most  of  the  pedes 
trians  seemed  to  be  in  good  humor,  although  occa 
sionally  they  would  pass  a  group  evidently  out  of 
luck  and  willing  to  let  everybody  know  it. 

"No  more  oil  fields  for  me!"  they  heard  one 
man  exclaim,  as  he  lunged  past,  evidently  partly 
under  the  influence  of  liquor.  "I've  sunk  forty- 
five  thousand  dollars  in  wells  already,  and  not  a 
sniff  of  gas  to  show  for  it.  I'm  through !" 

"That's  the  other  side  of  the  picture,"  re 
marked  Randy.  "Evidently  he's  got  rid  of  every 
cent  he  had,  and  now  he's  so  downhearted  he  is 
taking  to  drink." 

"I  don't  see  where  he  can  get  it  in  these  days," 
said  Fred  . 

"Oh,  they  manage  to  get  it  somehow." 

The  moving  picture  theater  was  open,  and  a 
crowd  was  swarming  inside.  The  pictures  were 
old  and  of  a  wild  Western  nature,  and  none  of 
the  lads  had  any  desire  to  see  them.  They  passed 
on  and  looked  into  the  windows  of  a  couple  of 
the  general  stores,  where  everything  from  matches 


PLOTTING  AGAINST  DICK  ROVER 


to  bedding  seemed  to  be  for  sale.  Then  they  came 
to  a  corner  where  there  was  a  side  street  which; 
was  little  more  than  an  alleyway.  Along  this 
were  a  dozen  or  more  shanties  set  in  anything  but 
a  regular  row. 

On  the  corner  was  a  flaring  banner  announcing 
that  here  was  located  the  Famous  California  Chop 
Suey  Restaurant.  Behind  the  small  dirty  windows, 
ten  or  fifteen  men  were  eating  at  half  a  dozen 
tables  covered  with  oilcloth. 

"Look!"  exclaimed  Fred,  pointing  in  throughj 
the  open  door  of  the  restaurant.  "There  are 
those  same  men  who  were  at  our  hotel.  Evi 
dently  they  can't  be  stopping  there  —  or  at  least 
they  don't  eat  there." 

"Isn't  it  queer  that  they  should  hang  around] 
our  hotel  and  then  come  down  here  for  a  meal  ?" 
remarked  Randy. 

"They're  talking  to  another  man  —  somebody 
who  wasn't  at  our  hotel,"  said  Fred.  "Just  see 
how  excited  they  seem  to  be!"  he  added  quickly, 
after  one  of  the  men  drew  a  paper  from  his  pocket} 
and  all  of  them  bent  over  it  with  interest. 

Then  the  stranger  of  the  crowd  began  to  talk 
to  the  others  very  earnestly. 

"Let  us  walk  down  the  alleyway,  and  perhaps 
we  can  find  out  something  about  those  men,"  sug 
gested  Jack.  "You  say  they  asked  about  Lorimer 


£64  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Spell  and  his  claim  ?  They  may  know  something 
that  my  dad  would  like  to  find  out." 

"All  right,"  said  Fred. 

The  four  Rovers  turned  the  corner  of  the  res 
taurant  and  walked  slowly  down  the  alleyway 
along  a  narrow  cinder  path.  This  path  ran  close 
to  the  side  of  the  building,  and  here  were  located 
several  small  windows,  one  of  them  close  to  where 
stood  the  table  at  which  the  men  inside  were 
seated. 

"It's  a  mighty  good  thing  that  we  ran  across 
those  Rovers  the  very  day  they  came  in,"  one  of 
the  men  was  saying.  "If  it  hadn't  been  for  that 
they  might  have  gone  up  to  the  Lorimer  Spell 
claim  and  done  something  that  would  queer  the 
whole  thing." 

"Oh,  I  don't  think  they  could  do  that,  Tate," 
returned  the  man  whom  the  lads  had  not  seen 
before.  "You  know  at  the  best  Spell's  claim  on 
the  land  was  not  perfectly  clear." 

"Well,  that's  how  you  look  at  it,  Davenport," 
said  another  of  the  men.  "You  must  remember,; 
Lorimer  Spell  had  a  good  many  friends  in  this 
neighborhood.  Of  course  he  was  a  queer  Dick 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  but  in  spite  of  that 
folks  here  would  want  to  have  Spell's  wishes  in 
this  matter  upheld." 

"Oh,  I  know  we  run  some  risk,"  returned  the 


PLOTTING  AGAINST  DICK  ROVER 


205 


man  called  Davenport.    "But  I  think  the  stake  is 
worth  it." 

"To  be  sure  it  is !"  came  from  one  of  the  others. 

"The  question  is,"  came  from  the  man  named 
Tate,  "how  are  we  going  to  get  at  it?  Do  you 
think  you'll  be  able  to  see  the  documents  this  man 
Rover  must  carry?" 

"Of  course  I'll  see  them.  I'll  get  at  them  some 
way,"  returned  Carson  Davenport  firmly.  He 
•was  a  large-built  man,  with  coal-black  eyes  and 
black  hair  and  his  face  had  a  rather  cruel  expres 
sion. 

"Somebody  said  that  Lorimer  Spell  placed  his; 
valuables  in  some  safe  deposit  vault,"  went  on 
one  of  the  men.  "In  that  case,  this  Richard 
Rover  wouldn't  have  them." 

"I  don't  see  why  not,"  said  another.  "If  he 
became  Spell's  heir  he  would  have  a  right  to  do 
anything,  and  the  bank  would  have  to  give  thej 
documents  up." 

More  talk  of  a  like  nature  followed,  and  the 
Rover  boys  listened  with  keen  interest  to  every, 
word  that  was  said.  They  recognized  in  Carson 
Davenport  the  man  who  had  written  to  Jack's 
'father  hoping  to  get  the  latter  interested  in  some 
'fake  oil  companies,  trusting  that  The  Rover  Com 
pany  in  New  York  City  would  be  able  to  dispose 
of  the  worthless  stocks  to  their  customers — 


206    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

people  who  trusted  them  implicitly  in  all  their 
financial  transactions.  While  these  negotiations 
were  going  on  Jake  Tate,  Davenport's  right-hand 
man,  had  learned  that  Lorimer  Spell  was  dead 
and  that  he  had  made  Dick  Rover  his  sole  heir. 
This  was  at  a  time  when  Tate  and  Davenport,  asj 
well  as  the  other  men,  were  trying  to  get  posses 
sion  of  the  Spell  land,  feeling  sure  that  there  was 
oil  on  it.  They  had  been  on  the  point  of  com 
municating  with  Dick  Rover,  thinking  they  might 
get  the  claim  away  from  him,  when  he  had  sur 
prised  the  whole  crowd  by  his  unexpected  appear 
ance  in  Columbina. 

"We've  got  to  have  quick  action  in  this,"  de 
clared  Jake  Tate.  "The  longer  we  delay  the  worse 
off  we'll  be." 

"Yes,  but  you've  got  to  find  out  about  those 
papers  first,"  said  one  of  the  other  men,  lighting  a 
cigar. 

"You  leave  me  to  do  that,"  said  Carson  Daven 
port.  "I'm  sure  I  know  exactly  how  to  handle 
this  man  Rover." 

"He  must  be  a  pretty  shrewd  fellow,  Daven 
port.  Otherwise  he  wouldn't  be  holding  such  an 
important  position  in  that  Wall  Street  company," 
remarked  Tate. 

"I've  handled  men  like  that  before.  You  leave 
it  to  me." 


PLOTTING  AGAINST  DICK  ROVER 


207 


"But  you  don't  want  him  to  suspect  anything 
is  off  color,"  said  one  of  the  other  men. 

"I'm  not  so  green,  Jackson.  I  wasn't  born  yes 
terday." 

"Didn't  you  say  you  thought  this  Rover  had  a 
lot  of  money?" 

"Yes,  the  whole  family  has  money.  But,  at  the 
same  time,  that  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  V\\ 
tell  you  what  I  propose  to  do,"  continued  Carsonj 
Davenport  earnestly.  "I'll  wait  until  I  am  sure 
that  he " 

This  was  as  much  as  the  Rover  boys  heard  for 
the  time  being.  Around  the  corner  of  the  build 
ing  from  the  main  street  had  come  three  figures. 
They  had  been  abreast,  but  now  they  approached 
on  the  cinder  path  in  single  file.  As  they  came 
closer  the  lights  from  the  restaurant  fell  on  their 
faces,  and  to  their  intense  surprise  the  four  Rov-j 
ers  recognized  Gabe  Werner,  Nappy  Martell,  and 
Slugger  Brown, 


CHAPTER  XXI 

WORDS    AND    BLOWS 

THE  surprise  on  both  sides  was  equal,  and  for 
a  moment  neither  the  Rovers  nor  those  in  the 
other  crowd  uttered  a  word. 

"What  are  you  doing  here,  Jack  Rover?"  de-j 
manded  Nappy  Martell  at  length,  as  he  scowled  at 
the  youth  and  his  cousins. 

"I  might  ask  the  same  question  of  you,  Nappy," 
was  Jack's  return. 

"Did  you  come  here  from  that  detention  camp?" 
questioned  Fred. 

"That's  none  of  your  business,"  retorted  Slug 
ger  Brown. 

"You  got  away  from  us  this  afternoon,  Gabe 
Werner,  but  you're  not  going  to  do  it  this  time," 
continued  Jack,  and  caught  the  rascal  by  the  arm.v 

"Hi!  you  let  go  of  me,"  howled  the  bully 
roughly,  and  shoved  Jack  back  against  the  build 
ing. 

At  this  Randy  leaped  forward  and  also  caught 
hold  of  Werner.  Nappy  Martell  and  Slugger 
208 


WORDS  AND  BLOWS  209 

Brown  were  about  to  jump  in  to  the  assistance  of 
their  friend  when  Fred  and  Andy  interfered. 

"You  leave  them  alone,"  ordered  Fred,  with 
flashing  eyes.  "He's  one  of  the  meanest  fellows 
in  the  world.  He  threw  pepper  in  Jack's  eyes  and 
in  the  eyes  of  Ruth  Stevenson." 

The  loud  talking  so  close  to  a  window  of  the 
restaurant  attracted  the  attention  of  the  men  in 
side,  and  the  fellow  named  Jake  Tate  thrust  his 
head  out  to  see  what  was  going  on. 

"Say,  what  do  you  know  about  this?"  he  ex 
claimed,  turning  to  his  companions.  "Those  four 
young  Rovers  are  out  here  right  by  the  window !" 

"You  don't  say  so!"  burst  out  Carson  Daven 
port. 

"If  they  are  by  this  window  maybe  they  were 
spying  on  us,"  put  in  the  man  named  Jackson. 

In  the  meanwhile  there  was  something  of  a 
fight  going  on  outside.  Gabe  Werner  had  tried 
to  break  away,  and  then  launched  a  blow  at  Jack, 
who  returned  by  hitting  him  a  crack  in  the  jaw. 

"See  here,  you  leave  Werner  alone !"  blustered 
Slugger  Brown. 

"You  keep  out  of  this,  Slugger!"  cried  Jack, 
and  then,  as  Werner  hit  out  a  second  time,  Jack 
dodged  and  the  bully's  fist  struck  the  side  of  the 
building,  skinning  several  of  his  knuckles.  Then 
Jack  landed  a  blow  with  all  the  force  he  could 


210    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

command  on  Werner's  left  ear,  and  the  rascal 
went  down  on  the  cinder  path  and  rolled  over  into 
the  roadway. 

By  this  time  the  men  in  the  restaurant  had  run 
outside  and  were  coming  up. 

"What's  the  rumpus  here?"  demanded  Jake 
Tate,  pushing  his  way  through  the  crowd  of  boys. 
He  was  a  burly  individual,  and  could  at  times  put 
on  a  most  aggressive  manner. 

"We  caught  these  four  fellows  right  by  this 
window,"  declared  Nappy  Martell,  with  a  sharp 
look  first  at  Tate  and  then  at  Davenport. 

"It  looked  to  us  as  though  they  might  be  spying 
on  you,"  added  Slugger  Brown,  and  he  too  gave 
Davenport  a  peculiar  look. 

"Spying  on  us,  eh  ?"  muttered  the  oil  company 
promoter  in  anything  but  a  pleasant  manner. 
"Fine  piece  of  business  to  be  in !" 

By  this  time  Gabe  Werner  had  rolled  over  and 
gotten  to  his  feet.  But  instead  of  coming  at  Jack 
again,  he  kept  at  a  safe  distance,  in  the  meanwhile 
sucking  his  bruised  knuckles  and  nursing  his  left} 
ear. 

"We  have  a  right  to  walk  on  this  street  if  we 
want  to,"  remarked  Randy. 

"They  were  standing  right  by  this  window,  and 
appeared  to  be  listening  to  something,"  declared 
Slugger  Brown. 


WORDS  AND  BLOWS  211 

"Then  they  must  have  been  listening  to  what  we 
were  saying,"  grumbled  Jackson. 

"How  long  were  you  at  this  window,  young; 
fellow?"  demanded  Jake  Tate. 

"I  guess  that's  our  own  business,"  and  Randy's 
eyes  flashed  defiance. 

"You  want  to  keep  your  eyes  on  those  Rov 
ers,"  cautioned  Nappy  Martell.  "They're  as  sly 
as  foxes.  I  know  'em!" 

"And  they'll  do  you  harm  if  they  can,"  added 
Slugger  Brown. 

"He  is  saying  that  because  we  wouldn't  stand 
for  any  of  his  underhanded  work,"  explained 
Fred. 

"We  never  did  stand  for  anything  that  wasn't 
on  the  level,"  added  Andy,  and  looked  at  Carson 
Davenport  suggestively. 

"See  here,  young  fellow,  don't  you  get  fresh !" 
cried  the  oil  company  promoter.  And  then  he 
added  with  a  sneer :  "I  reckon  you've  been  listen 
ing  to  more  than  was  good  for  you." 

"Well,  if  you  want  to  know  it,  we  heard  a  few 
things  that  surprised  us,"  answered  Jack  boldly .1 

"What  did  you  hear?"  questioned  Jake  Tate 
quickly. 

"We  heard  what  you  had  to  say  about  the 
Lorimer  Spell  claim,  if  you  must  know  it,"  re 
torted  Fred. 


212    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Yes,  and  we  are  going  to  report  it  to  my 
Uncle  Dick  at  once,"  said  Andy. 

At  this  the  men  were  evidently  much  jdis- 
turbed,  and  Tate  pulled  Davenport  back  and  whis 
pered  something  into  his  ear.  Then  both  con-j 
ferred  with  Jackson.  In  the  meantime  Nappy 
and  Slugger  came  forward  again  with  Werner 
close  behind  them. 

"You  tried  to  run  things  to  suit  yourselves  up 
at  Colby  Hall,"  sneered  Slugger.  "But  you'll  find 
it  a  different  story  down  here." 

"Don't  you  dare  to  tell  any  stories  about  us," 
warned  Nappy.  "If  you  do  you'll  get  in  bad,, 
mark  my  words.  I've  stood  all  I'm  going  to  stand 
from  your  crowd." 

"If  you  are  behaving  yourself  and  trying  t® 
earn  an  honest  living,  we'll  have  nothing  to  say 
to  anybody  about  your  past,"  answered  Jack.j 
"The  war  is  over,  and  the  question  of  how  you 
aided  those  German  sympathizers  is  a  thing  of 
the  past." 

"Don't  you  trust  'em,"  growled  Werner. 
"They'll  do  their  level  best  to  get  you  in  bad.  I 
know  'em!" 

"You  just  let  me  get  at  you,  Werner,  and  I'll 
show  you  what  I'll  do,"  retorted  Jack,  and  made 
a  move  in  the  direction  of  the  fellow.  And  at 
this  the  bully  lost  no  time  in  retreating.  He  was. 


WORDS  AND  BLOWS  213 

evidently  afraid  that  the  Rovers  would  hand  him 
over  to  the  authorities. 

By  this  time  the  men  were  coming  forward 
again. 

"See  here,  boys,  we  don't  want  any  trouble,"/ 
said  Carson  Davenport  oilily.  "We  were  only 
talking  about  that  Lorimer  Spell  claim  in  a  gen-, 
eral  way.  I'll  explain  everything  to  Mr.  Rover's 
satisfaction  in  the  morning.  I  only  want  to  work 
with  him  in  this  matter.  We  could  get  along  so 
much  better  than  if  we  worked  separately." 

"All  right,  then,"  answered  Jack.  "You  know 
where  my  father  can  be  found." 

"You  may  have  got  a  wrong  impression  from 
our  talk,"  added  Jake  Tate.  "We  handle  things 
in  a  rougher  way  down  in  this  oil  country  than 
you  do  up  in  New  York.  Davenport  will 
straighten  out  everything  with  your  father." 

After  this  the  men  continued  to  talk  to  the  boys 
for  several  minutes,  doing  their  best  to  allay  the 
Rovers'  suspicions.  Nappy  and  Slugger  listened 
with  interest,  as  did  also  Werner,  who,  however, 
kept  out  of  reach  of  Jack  and  his  cousins. 

"We  might  as  well  be  going,  Nappy,"  said 
Slugger  presently,  and  turned  and  hurried  up  the 
narrow  street,  and  Gabe  Werner  went  after  them. 
Then,  a  moment  later,  the  men  returned  to  the 
restaurant  to  finish  the  meal  they  had  begun. 


214    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"I  suppose  we  might  as  well  return  to  the 
hotel,"  said  Jack. 

"Right  you  are!"  declared  Randy.  "The  best 
thing  we  can  do  is  to  let  Uncle  Dick  know  about 
this." 

They  found  Dick  Rover  sitting  in  a  corner  of 
the  hotel  porch  talking  to  an  old  oil  man  to  whom 
he  had  brought  a  letter  of  introduction. 

"This  is  Mr.  Nick  Ogilvie,"  said  Jack's  father 
after  introducing  the  boys.  "He  will  take  charge 
of  any  operations  we  may  commence  in  this  ter 
ritory.  He  is  an  old  oil  man,  and  knows  this  dis 
trict  thoroughly." 

The  boys  sat  down  to  listen  to  what  the  old  oil 
man  might  have  to  say.  Mr.  Ogilvie  remained 
the  best  part  of  an  hour,  and  then  went  off,  stat 
ing  that  he  would  be  around  again  the  next  day. 
As  soon  as  he  had  departed  the  boys,  making 
sure  that  no  one  else  was  within  hearing,  told 
Jack's  father  of  all  they  had  learned  concerning 
Carson  Davenport  and  the  men  associated  with 
him.  Dick  Rover  listened  with  intense  interest, 
his  face  clouding  as  they  proceeded. 

"This  is  certainly  news,  and  I'll  have  to  inves 
tigate  it  thoroughly,"  he  declared,  when  they  had 
finished.  "Evidently  this  Carson  Davenport  is  a 
worse  sharper  than  I  thought." 

"He  says  he  can  explain  everything  to  your 


WORDS  AND  BLOWS  215 

satisfaction,"  said  Jack.    "But  I  don't  see  how  it 
can  be  done." 

"Nor  I,  either,"  declared  Randy.  "My  opin 
ion  is  that  they  are  a  bunch  of  crooks  and  nothing 
else." 

"Evidently  they  think  they  have  some  sort  of 
claim  on  the  Spell  land,"  answered  Dick  Rover. 
"And  it  is  possible  that  such  is  a  fact,  because, 
as  I  said  before,  the  title  to  Spell's  land  seemed 
to  be  clouded.  Of  course,  I  don't  know  what  is 
in  the  documents  in  the  safe-deposit  vault  at 
Wichita  Falls.  Those  documents  may  clear  the 
matter  up." 

"Then  I  should  think  the  best  thing  would  be 
to  get  those  papers,"  said  Jack. 

"That's  what  I  intend  to  do." 

"Will  you  see  Davenport  in  the  morning?" 
questioned  Fred  curiously. 

"Certainly,  Fred.  I  am  not  afraid  of  that 
crowd,  and  the  more  they  talk  the  better  I'll  like 
it,  for  then  I  can  get  some  sort  of  line  on  what 
they  are  aiming  at." 

It  was  some  time  after  breakfast  the  next  morn 
ing  when  Carson  Davenport  put  in  an  appearance. 
Dick  Rover  was  busy  writing  some  letters  when 
he  came  in,  and  the  boys  were  addressing  post 
cards  to  their  folks  and  friends.  Davenport  was 
alone. 


2i6    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"I  want  to  clear  up  any  misunderstanding  that 
may  have  arisen,"  said  the  oil  well  promoter 
smoothly,  as  he  dropped  into  a  chair  beside  Jack's 
father. 

There  followed  a  conversation  lasting  over  an 
hour.  At  first  Davenport  did  his  best  to  smooth 
matters  over,  but  gradually,  as  Dick  Rover  man 
aged  to  draw  out  one  fact  after  another,  the  oil 
well  promoter  showed  more  or  less  irritation. 
Dick's  shrewdness  bothered  him,  and  finally  he 
hardly  knew  how  to  proceed. 

"You  take  it  from  me,  Rover,  the  only  way  for 
us  to  do  is  to  work  this  thing  together,"  he  re 
marked.  "One  claim  is  just  as  good  as  the  other, 
and  what  is  the  use  of  our  getting  into  a  dispute 
over  it  when  we  are  not  real  certain  that  there  is 
oil  on  the  land?" 

"Then  you  mean  to  say  that  you  think  your 
claim  on  the  land  is  just  as  good  as  mine?"  asked 
Jack's  father. 

"My  claim  is  just  as  good,  and  maybe  better. 
But  I  don't  want  to  have  any  trouble.  I  figure 
that  it  will  cost  about  thirty  thousand  dollars  to 
sink  a  well  on  that  land.  Now  why  not  go  in 
together?  We've  got  ten  thousand  dollars,  and 
if  you'll  put  up  the  other  twenty  thousand  we  can 
try  our  luck  and  see  what  comes  of  it." 

"I'm  not  admitting  that  your  claim  is  a  good 


WORDS  AND  BLOWS  217 

biie,"  answered  Dick  Rover.  "I'll  know  more 
about  it  in  a  few  days." 

"Why,  what  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"When  Lorimer  Spell  died  he  left  me  every 
thing  he  possessed,  and  that  included  some  things 
left  in  a  safe  deposit  box  at  a  bank  in  Wichita 
Falls.  I  am  going  to  get  that  box  and  see  if 
there  are  any  documents  in  it  relating  to  this  claim. 
fThen  I'll  know  exactly  how  I  stand  in  this  matter. 
Until  that  time  I  sha'n't  make  any  sort  of  a  deal." 

This  was  Dick  Rover's  final  decision  so  far  as 
it  concerned  Davenport,  and  the  latter  went  off 
looking  anything  but  pleased. 

"He'll  get  the  best  of  you  if  he  can,  Dad,"  re 
marked  Jack,  after  the  interview  was  over. 

"I  don't  doubt  it  in  the  least,  Son." 

"What's  the  next  move,  if  I  may  ask?"  ques 
tioned  Fred.  The  oil  well  proposition  was  be 
ginning  to  interest  him  tremendously. 

"I  am  going  to  take  the  first  train  for  Wichita 
Falls  to-day,"  answered  his  uncle.  "I  guess  you 
boys  can  get  along  here  until  I  get  back." 

"How  far  is  that  Lorimer  Spell  tract  of  land 
from  here?"  asked  Randy. 

"About  three  miles  or  so." 

"Then  what's  the  matter  with  our  walking  out 
there  and  taking  a  look  around  ?"  suggested  Fred. 
"We've  got  the  whole  day  before  us." 


2i8    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"You  can  do  that  and  welcome,"  said  Jack's 
father.  "But  take  my  advice  and  take  a  good 
lunch  along,  because  you  may  not  be  able  to  get 
anything  up  there.  I  don't  know  whether  there 
are  any  farmhouses  around  or  not." 

An  hour  later  Dick  Rover  was  off  for  Wichita 
Falls  by  train.  Then  the  lads  asked  the  restau 
rant  man  to  put  up  a  substantial  lunch  for  them, 
and  a  little  later  they  set  off  in  the  direction  where 
the  Lorimer  Spell  tract  was  located. 

Around  Columbina  the  walking  was  anything 
but  good.  But  presently  they  found  themselves 
on  a  country  road  which  had  not  been  cut  up  by 
a  steady  stream  of  wagons  and  automobiles,  and 
here  they  found  going  better. 

They  had  covered  about  two  miles  when  they 
came  to  a  bend  in  the  road,  and  there  Andy  called 
a  halt. 

"I've  got  something  in  my  shoe.  Wait  till  I 
take  it  off,"  he  said,  and  sat  down  on  a  rock. 

They  were  all  resting  when  they  saw  an  auto 
mobile  truck  rumble  past  them.  There  were  three 
men  on  the  front  seat,  and  the  lads  were  very 
much  surprised  to  see  that  two  of  them  were 
Jake  Tate  and  the  man  called  Jackson. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

AMONG  THE  OIL  WELLS 

"DiD  you  see  those  fellows?"  exclaimed  Randy, 
after  the  automobile  truck  had  rumbled  out  of 
sight. 

"I  did,"  answered  Jack.  "They  were  Tate  and 
Jackson." 

"Can  they  be  going  up  to  the  Lorimer  Spell 
claim?"  exclaimed  Fred. 

"It's  possible." 

"I  don't  think  they  saw  us,"  put  in  Andy,  lac 
ing  up  his  shoe  again. 

"No,  they  didn't  seem  to  look  this  way  at  all. 
And,  anyhow,  they  were  too  busy  talking  to  nch 
tice,"  answered  Jack. 

The  four  Rovers  continued  on  their  way,  fol 
lowing  the  automobile.  Occasionally  they  met 
other  automobiles,  as  well  as  wagons,  some  piled 
high  with  oil-drilling  machinery.  Then  they  came 
to  a  place  where  a  pipe  line  was  being  con 
structed. 

"We  are  certainly  in  the  oil  fields,"  announced 
Jack.  "See  all  the  derricks  in  the  distance?" 

219 


>220    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Being1  good  walkers,  it  did  not  take  the  boys 
long  to  reach  the  Spell  tract  of  land.  To  make, 
sure  that  they  had  found  the  right  spot,  they 
asked  an  old  teamster  who  was  at  the  roadside 
mending  a  harness. 

"Yes,  that's  Lorimer  Spell's  ground — or  at 
least  it  was  his  ground  before  he  was  killed. 
There  is  the  old  shack  just  as  he  left  it." 

The  boys  walked  over  to  the  house,  which  stood 
among  some  low  bushes.  It  was  a  dilapidated 
structure,  and  had  evidently  been  out  of  repair 
for  several  years.  Most  of  the  windows  were 
gone,  and  the  front  door  stood  wide  open.  As 
was  to  be  expected,  the  four  rooms  the  house  con 
tained  were  empty  save  for  some  straw  on  the 
floor  and  a  pile  of  half -burnt  sticks  on  the  open 
hearth. 

"Some  thieves  must  have  come  along  and  taken 
whatever  there  was  of  furniture,"  observed  Jack. 

"Yes,  and  somebody  has  been  using  it  for  a 
place  to  bunk  in,"  added  Fred.  "But  I  don't 
believe  they  have  been  here  within  the  last  few 
days,"  he  added,  with  a  look  at  the  ashes  on  the 
hearth. 

From  the  house  the  boys  proceeded  to  look 
around  the  farm,  or  ranch,  if  such  it  might  be 
called.  It  was  irregular  in  shape,  one  corner  run 
ning  over  a  hill  and  down  towards  a  small  brook. 


AMONG  THE  OIL  WELLS  221 

Here,  to  their  surprise,  they  saw  a  pile  of  oil- 
drilling  machinery,  and  a  number  of  posts  had 
been  set  up.  On  one  of  the  posts  was  a  placard 
reading  : 


Carson  Davenport  Claim.    Keep  off. 


"What  do  you  know  about  this  !"  cried  Jack,  his 
eyes  blazing. 

"Let's  knock  the  sign  down,"  suggested  Fred 
quickly. 

"No,  we  won't  do  that  —  at  least  not  yet,  Fred. 
We'll  wait  until  my  father  comes  with  those 
papers  from  Wichita  Falls." 

In  the  soft  soil  they  could  see  numerous  tracks 
of  automobiles  and  wagons  which  had  passed  that 
way.  One  of  these  tracks  was  fresh. 

"I'll  bet  that  auto  with  Tate  and  Jackson  was, 
here  just  before  we  came  !"  cried  Randy.  "Those 
fellows  are  certainly  on  the  job.  They  probably 
believe  that  'possession  is  nine  points  of  the  law.'  ' 

"And  it  may  be  down  here,"  said  Jack,  his  face 
clouding.  "The  authorities  haven't  things  under 
their  control  in  a  wild  country  like  this  as  they, 
have  in  and  around  the  big  cities." 

There  were  no  oil  wells  near  the  Spell  tract, 
and  to  get  to  the  nearest  the  lads  had  to  tramp 
over  another  hill,  a  distance  of  more  than  a  quar- 


222  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

ter  of  a  mile.  Here  they  found  several  wells  in 
operation,  the  combined  flow  of  which,  they  were 
told,  amounted  to  about  four  hundred  barrels  per 
day. 

"Not  so  bad,  when  you  consider  this  oil  is  worth 
about  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  barrel,"  remarked 
Jack. 

"That  makes  a  thousand  dollars  a  day,"  re 
turned  Fred.  "Gee,  just  think  of  taking  in  that 
much  every  twenty-four  hours !" 

The  boys  were  told  that  another  well  was  to  be 
shot  off  that  afternoon.  This  was  located  about 
half  a  mile  away,  and  they  resolved  to  visit  the 
place,  first,  however,  stopping  by  the  roadside  for 
lunch.  They  were  told  where  they  could  get  a 
drink  of  water. 

"Phew !  how  it  smells  of  oil,"  remarked  Rand}', 
turning  up  his  nose  at  the  dose. 

"I  guess  we'll  get  our  fill  of  oil  before  we  get 
through,  Randy,"  laughed  Jack.  "Some  of  these 
neighborhoods  are  saturated  with  oil  from  end  to 
end.  The  houses  and  barns  are  full  of  it,  and  so 
are  the  roads,  and  they  tell  me  even  the  things  in 
the  dining-rooms  and  bedrooms  smell  of  oil." 

"And  just  see  how  black  the  stuff  is,"  declared 
Fred.  "It  doesn't  look  one  bit  like  the  oil  we 
are  used  to  using.  It  certainly  needs  a  lot  of 
refining." 


AMONG  THE  OIL  WELLS  223 

"And  just  think  of  the  hundred  and  one  things 
that  come  from  it,"  said  Jack.  "Kerosene  and 
gasoline,  and  benzine  and  naphtha  and  paraffin, 
and  I  don't  know  what  all." 

The  middle  of  the  afternoon  found  them  at 
the  place  where  the  new  well  was  to  be  brought 
in — that  is,  provided  everything  went  well,  the 
the  head  workman  told  them,  with  a  grin.  He 
was  a  good-natured  Irishman  with  body  and 
clothing  saturated  with  oil  from  head  to  foot. 

"  'Tis  not  a  noice  way  av  makin'  a  livin',"  he 
announced.  "But  'tis  clane  money  one  gits  in  his 
pocket." 

"Yes,  and  you  haven't  got  to  stay  here  for 
ever,"  answered  Jack,  with  a  smile.  "After  you've 
made  your  pile  you  can  go  to  some  place  more 
agreeable." 

"Sure,  an*  that's  true,  Son,  so  'tis,"  said  the 
foreman. 

He  explained  to  them  how  the  well  had  been 
drilled  and  how  the  charges  had  been  lowered. 
They  had  tested  out  the  well  at  eighteen  hundred 
feet,  but  without  success.  Now  they  were  down 
twenty-six  hundred  feet,  and  the  indications  for 
oil  were  decidedly  good. 

At  length  came  the  moment  for  shooting  off 
the  well.  Some  of  the  woodwork  surrounding 
the  derrick  had  been  removed,  and  all  the  electric 


224    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

connections  were  pronounced  in  good  working  or 
der.  Then  the  boys  and  the  others  who  had  as 
sembled  were  ordered  back  to  a  safe  distance. 

It  was  a  thrilling  moment,  and  no  one  felt  it 
more  than  the  four  Rovers.  They  waited  a  few 
minutes,  and  then  came  a  dull  rumble,  shaking  the 
ground  as  if  by  an  earthquake.  Then  they  saw 
something  shoot  skyward,  and  then  came  a  sud 
den  rain  of  black  oil,  flying  and  spattering  in  all 
directions. 

"They've  struck  it !  They've  struck  it !"  yelled 
Andy  excitedly.  "They've  struck  oil!" 

"Gee,  but  I'll  bet  that  makes  them  feel  good," 
announced  Fred.  "That  well  must  have  cost  a 
lot  of  money." 

"Forty  thousand  dollars,  the  foreman  said," 
came  from  Jack.  "Come  on,  let  us  get  back 
unless  we  want  our  clothing  ruined."  For  the 
wind  was  shifting  and  sending  a  fine  spray  of  oil 
in  their  direction. 

It  was  hard  work  to  control  the  flow  of  oil, 
and  the  men  around  the  new  well  had  to  work  like 
Trojans.  The  black  mass  was  flowing  off  in  a 
depression  of  the  ground  which  had  been  dammed 
around  to  receive  it. 

"It  certainly  is  a  great  proceeding,"  was  Fred's 
comment,  when  they  finally  turned  away  and 
started  on  their  return  to  Columbina.  "I  don't 


AMONG  THE  OIL  WELLS  22$ 

wonder  that  those  men  get  interested.  It  certainly 
is  the  greatest  gamble  of  the  age.  One  minute 
you  have  nothing,  and  the  next,  if  you  are  lucky, 
the  oil  is  pouring  thousands  of  dollars  into  your 
pocket  every  week." 

"It's  the  land  of  luck,  all  right  enough,"  an 
swered  Fred. 

"And  you  mustn't  forget  one  thing,"  added 
Jack.  "There  are  just  as  many  failures  as  there 
are  successes.  There  have  been  millions  and  mil 
lions  of  dollars  sunk  in  Texas,  Oklahoma  and 
Kansas,  and  some  promoters  haven't  got  even  a 
smell  of  oil  for  their  money." 

When  the  lads  returned  to  the  hotel  they  found 
that  several  letters  had  come  in  for  them.  One 
was  from  Jack's  sister,  and  this  he  read  with 
interest,  and  then  passed  it  around  to  his  cousins 
to  peruse. 

In  her  letter  Martha  wrote  that  she  had  heard 
from  Ruth  Stevenson's  mother,  who  stated  that 
Ruth's  eyes  were  not  in  as  good  shape  as  the  local 
doctor  had  hoped  for  and  he  had  advised  that  a 
specialist  be  consulted. 

"Gee,  that's  the  worst  yet!"  said  Jack,  and  his 
face  showed  his  concern.  "Poor  Ruth!  I  do 
hope  she  comes  out  of  it  all  right,  and  that  very 
soon." 

Both  Jack  and  the  others  would  have  been  more 


226    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

concerned  had  they  known  the  truth,  which  was 
that  Ruth  had  already  been  placed  in  the  care 
of  an  eye  specialist  and  been  removed  to  that 
physician's  private  sanitarium.  Pressed  to  tell 
the  exact  truth  by  Mr.  Stevenson,  the  specialist 
had  admitted  that  Ruth's  eyes  had  suffered  ex 
ceedingly,  and  that  she  was  in  danger  of  losing 
the  sight  of  one  of  them  and  that  that  might  pos 
sibly  affect  the  other.  As  Mrs.  Stevenson  was 
very  nervous  already,  the  doctor  had  advised  her 
husband  to  keep  the  truth  to  himself  for  the  pres 
ent  and  hope  for  the  best. 

Among  the  other  letters  received  was  one  for 
warded  by  Mary  to  her  brother  Fred.  This  was 
from  Gif  Garrison,  and  in  the  communication  Gif 
told  how  he  had  heard  in  a  roundabout  way  of 
Nappy  and  Slugger. 

"It  seems  that  there  was  once  a  man  named 
Davenport  in  business  with  Mr.  Martell,"  wrote 
Gif.  "This  Davenport  is  now  down  in  the  oil 
fields  of  Texas,  and  he  has  agreed,  so  I  under 
stand,  to  give  Nappy  and  Slugger  a  chance  to 
work  for  a  company  he  has  formed.  So  they  are 
likely  down  there,  and  maybe  you  will  meet  them. 
The  also  say  that  Glutts  and  Werner  used  to  cor 
respond  with  Nappy  and  Slugger,  so  that  it  is 
just  possible  they  will  go  down  there  too." 


AMONG  THE  OIL  WELLS  227 

"Well,  Glutts  isn't  here,"  said  Fred,  with  a 
grin.  "I  guess  that  mix-up  in  New  York  was 
too  much  for  him." 

"If  those  fellows  want  to  work  for  Carson 
Davenport  they  can  do  so,"  said  Jack.  "But 
they've  got  to  keep  their  distance — Werner  es 
pecially." 

Late  that  evening  there  came  a  telegram  for 
Jack.  It  was  from  his  father,  announcing  the 
fact  that  he  would  have  to  remain  in  Wichita 
Falls  for  a  day  or  two. 

"Perhaps  he's  got  to  fix  up  some  legal  matters 
in  connection  with  this  Spell  claim,"  suggested 
Fred. 

There  was  not  much  to  interest  the  v?o}rs  around 
Columbina,  and  the  next  day  hung  rather  heavily 
on  their  hands.  They  visited  the  general  store* 
and  also  walked  over  to  the  depot  and  watched 
two  of  the  trains  come  in.  They  saw  Carson 
Davenport  alight  from  one  and  hurry  away  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  carrying  a  Gladstone  bag  with 
him. 

"Hello!  I  wonder  if  he  has  been  to  Wichita 
Falls  too,"  cried  Jack. 

"He  certainly  came  from  that  direction."  an 
swered  Fred.  "But  you  must  remember  there  are 
lots  of  other  towns  along  the  line." 

The  following  afternoon  found  the  four  boys 


•228    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

on  a  highway  leading  from  Columbina  to  Der- 
rickville.  They  had  fallen  in  with  an  old  oil 
prospector  who  knew  Nick  Ogilvie  well,  and  this 
prospector  had  offered  to  take  them  over  to  Der- 
rickville  in  his  five-passenger  touring-car. 

"It's  a  great  sight  around  Derrickville,"  said 
the  man.  "There  are  hundreds  of  oil  wells  in 
that  vicinity.  It's  about  the  busiest  place  for 
miles  around." 

Warned  by  their  previous  experience,  the  boys 
had  purchased  some  overalls  and  plain  caps,  and 
these  they  donned  to  protect  their  other  clothing. 
They  found  the  road  to  Derrickville  deep  in  mud, 
and  more  than  once  it  looked  as  if  the  car  in 
which  they  were  riding  would  get  stuck.  But 
Mr.  Bradley  was  a  good  driver,  and  always  man 
aged  somehow  to  get  through. 

"It  ain't  like  driving  on  Broadway,"  he  grinned, 
"but  we've  got  to  make  the  best  of  it." 

Two  hours  later  found  the  Rovers  in  Der 
rickville.  They  were  left  to  shift  for  themselves, 
Mr.  Bradley  stating  he  would  take  them  back  to 
Columbina  at  five  o'clock.  They  visited  a  dozen 
wells  or  more,  and  also  the  pumping  station  con 
nected  with  a  large  pipe  line,  and  then  walked  over 
to  where  the  drilling  of  some  new  wells  was  in 
progress. 

"Look !"  shouted  Fred  suddenly.    "Look !    Am 


AMONG  THE  OIL  WELLS  229 

I  mistaken,  or  is  that  Phil  Franklin  over  there?" 
He  pointed  to  a  distance,  and  then  he  and  the 
others  hurried  to  the  spot  There,  looking  at 
the  work  which  was  going  on  around  a  new  well, 
were  the  man  and  the  boy  they  had  once  rescued 
from  the  freshet  on  the  Rick  Rack  River. 


A    QUEER    SUMMONS 

"An  I  seeing  straight,  and  is  it  really  the  Rov 
ers  ?"  exclaimed  John  Franklin,  when  confronted 
by  the  boys. 

"You  are  seeing  straight  enough,  Mr.  Frank 
lin,"  answered  Fred,  as  he  shook  hands  first  with 
the  father  and  then  the  son.  "Is  your  claim 
around  here?" 

"No,  our  claim  is  some  miles  from  here,"  an 
swered  John  Franklin.  "It's  at  a  place  called 
Pottown." 

"I've  heard  of  that  place,"  said  Jack,  as  he  too 
shook  hands,  as  did  the  others.  "They  say  there 
are  quite  a  few  oil  wells  in  that  neighborhood." 

"What  have  you  done  about  your  claim,  if  I 
may  ask?"  questioned  Randy. 

"Oh,  I've  got  myself  all  straightened  out,"  said 
Mr.  Franklin,  with  a  broad  smile.  "You  see, 
when  I  got  down  here  I  played  in  luck  right  from 
the  start.  Those  swindlers  had  got  tired  of  try 
ing  to  do  something  on  my  farm,  and  then  I  ran 
230 


A  QUEER  SUMMONS  231 

into  an  old  friend  of  mine  who  was  a  lawyer.  He 
took  the  matter  up  for  me,  and  the  swindlers  got 
scared  and  all  of  them  quit  the  claim  over  night; 
so  I  am  now  in  sole  possession." 

"And  have  you  struck  oil  ?"  asked  Jack. 

"No,  I  haven't  got  that  far  yet,  but  I  have 
great  hopes  of  going  ahead.  You  see,  I'm  handi 
capped  for  money.  I  could  get  some  capitalists 
interested,  but  they  generally  want  the  lion's  share 
of  the  proceeds,  and  that  I  don't  want  to  give 
them." 

"I  don't  blame  you,"  said  Fred.  "You  ought 
to  get  the  most  of  the  money  if  the  oil  is  found 
on  your  land." 

"I'm  telling  dad  to  take  his  time,"  put  in  Phil 
Franklin.  "The  land  won't  run  away,  and  the 
more  oil  wells  that  are  producing  around  us,  the 
more  valuable  our  place  will  become." 

"But  what  brought  you  young  fellows  down 
here  ?"  questioned  the  man.  "Are  you  on  a  sight 
seeing  tour?" 

"Not  altogether,"  answered  Jack.  "My  father 
is  interested  in  a  claim  down  here,  and  he  al 
lowed  us  to  come  along  with  him."  And  there 
upon  he  gave  some  of  the  particulars. 

John  Franklin  listened  attentively  to  the  story, 
and  his  eyes  flashed  angrily  when  the  names  of 
Tate  and  Jackson  were  mentioned. 


5232    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"Those  are  the  swindlers  who  were  trying  to 
do  me  out  of  my  property!"  he  ejaculated.  "And 
I'm  of  the  opinion  this  Carson  Davenport  was  in 
with  them.  They  are  a  bunch  of  crooks,  and 
nothing  else.  They  ought  all  to  be  in  prison." 

"Well,  they'll  land  there  sooner  or  later  if  they 
don't  look  out,"  returned  Fred. 

"If  I  was  your  father  I  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  this  Davenport  or  the  men  acting  with 
him,"  went  on  Mr.  Franklin  to  Jack. 

"Do  you  know  anything  at  all  about  the  Lori- 
mer  Spell  claim?" 

"I  don't  know  anything  about  what  has  hap 
pened  lately  so  far  as  that  claim  is  concerned," 
was  John  Franklin's  reply.  "But  I  do  know  when 
oil  was  first  discovered  in  this  region  some  of 
the  experts  went  over  the  whole  territory  carefully 
and  they  did  not  consider  the  Spell  claim  as  being 
of  any  value.  That's  the  reason  no  wells  were 
located  there.  They  claimed  that  the  geological 
formation  was  not  good  for  oil." 

"Oh !  then  you  mean  to  say  there  is  no  oil  on 
that  claim  ?"  questioned  Fred  disappointedly. 

"I  don't  know  anything  about  it,  lad.  I  am 
only  telling  you  what  the  experts  said.  Those 
fellows  miss  it  once  in  a  while,  just  the  same 
as  other  people.  At  the  same  time,  if  an  expert 
doesn't  think  ground  is  worth  drilling  for  oil, 


A  QUEER  SUMMONS  233 

you  can  make  up  your  mind  that  the  chances  of 
striking  it  rich  there  are  very  slim." 

"But  are  you  sure  the  experts  went  over  it 
jvery  carefully?"  questioned  Andy. 

"I  am." 

"And  who  were  they?" 

"They  were  from  Wichita  Falls — a  firm  by  the 
name  of  Fitch  and  Lunberry." 

"Then  probably  if  my  father  wanted  it  he 
could  get  a  report  from  Fitch  and  Lunberry," 
said  Jack. 

"I  think  he  could — provided,  of  course,  he  was 
willing  to  pay  for  it.  These  experts  don't  work 
for  nothing!"  and  John  Franklin  grinned. 

"If  you  stay  down  here  any  length  of  time  I 
wish  you'd  come  over  to  our  place  and  see  us," 
said  Phil  Franklin. 

"We'll  be  sure  to  do  that,"  answered  Randy. 

"Maybe  I  can  get  your  uncle  interested  in  my 
land,"  suggested  Mr.  Franklin.  "I  wish  he'd  look 
it  over.  It  wouldn't  cost  him  anything." 

"I'll  speak  to  dad  about  it,"  answered  Jack 
quickly.  There  was  something  about  the  Frank 
lins  which  had  pleased  him  ever  since  he  had 
first  known  them.  They  appeared  to  be  per 
fectly  honest  and  reliable. 

Accompanied  by  the  Franklins,  the  Rovers 
tramped  around  the  various  oil  wells  located  in 


234    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

and  near  Derrickville.  Mr.  Franklin  understood 
a  great  deal  about  the  wells  and  the  machinery, 
and  explained  these  things  in  an  interesting  way, 
so  the  afternoon  passed  quickly.  Almost  before 
they  knew  it  the  Rovers  had  to  say  good-bye  and 
start  on  the  return  trip  with  Mr.  Bradley. 

"Gee,  I  wonder  if  what  Mr.  Franklin  said  about 
the  Spell  claim  can  be  true!"  remarked  Jack,  on 
the  way  to  Columbina. 

"He  ought  to  know  what  he  is  talking  about, 
Jack,"  answered  Fred.  "And  certainly  he  had 
no  axe  to  grind  in  the  matter.  He  doesn't  want 
to  see  Uncle  Dick  throw  his  money  away." 

Two  more  days  passed,  and  still  Dick  Rover 
did  not  return  from  Wichita  Falls.  The  boys 
went  out  sightseeing  and  amused  themselves  as 
best  they  could,  but  this  was  not  saying  much. 
The  most  fun  they  had  was  in  a  shooting-gallery 
where  they  astonished  the  proprietor  by  the  bull's- 
eyes  they  made. 

"You  young  fellows  are  some  shots,"  said  he. 
"You  must  be  used  to  guns." 

"We  are,"  answered  Fred. 

The  four  Rovers  had  gone  into  the  target 
gallery  directly  after  supper  and  while  it  was  still 
light.  Now,  when  they  came  out,  Jack  suggested 
that  they  return  to  the  hotel. 

"We  might  send  out  a  letter  or  two,"  he  sug- 


A  QUEER  SUMMONS  235 

gested,  "and  I'd  like  to  look  over  a  newspaper  if 
I  can  find  one." 

The  Rovers  were  heading  in  the  direction  of 
the  hotel  when,  glancing  across  the  street,  they 
saw  Nappy  Martell  and  Slugger  Brown. 

"They  seem  to  be  watching  us,"  declared  Jack. 

"Probably  they'd  like  to  know  what  we  intend 
to  do,"  answered  Randy.  "I  think  we  might  as 
well  ignore  them,"  he  went  on,  as  he  saw  Nappy 
and  Slugger  crossing  the  muddy  roadway. 

"Hello!"  called  Slugger  coolly.  "We've  been 
looking  for  you  fellows." 

"Looking  for  us !"  exclaimed  Fred. 

"Yes,  we  found  out  you  were  not  at  the  hotel, 
and  so  we  thought  you  must  be  somewhere  around 
town." 

"What  do  you  want  of  us?"  demanded  Jack 
suspiciously. 

"We  came  to  see  you  on  Gabe  Werner's  ac 
count,"  answered  Nappy.  As  he  spoke  he  showed 
that  he  was  nervous. 

"On  Gabe  Werner's  account!  What  do  you 
mean  ?" 

"I  guess  you  had  better  ask  Gabe  about  that," 
answered  Slugger.  "He's  very  anxious  to  see  all 
of  you — wants  to  see  you  this  evening,  too." 

"Where  is  he?" 

"We  left  him  at  a  house  up  on  the  Derrickville 


•236    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK  * 

road.  It's  about  half  a  mile  or  so  out  of  town," 
answered  Slugger. 

"Is  he  sick  ?"  questioned  Fred. 

"He's  worse  than  that — he's  down  and  out," 
answered  Nappy.  "But  he  said  to  tell  all  of  you 
that  he  wanted  to  see  you  this  evening  sure — 
that  to-morrow  morning  wouldn't  do." 

"See  here,  Nappy,  is  this  some  sort  of  trick?" 
^demanded  Jack  bluntly.  "If  it  is,  I  want  to  tell 
you  right  now  it  won't  work." 

"It's  no  trick.  How  could  it  be?  We  are  all 
alone,  and  we're  not  armed.  We  are  doing  this 
solely  because  Gabe  Werner  asked  us  to  do  it. 
He  couldn't  come  himself,  not  with  a  broken 
leg." 

"Oh,  then  he  has  broken  his  leg,  has  he?"  said 
Andy,  with  something  of  sympathy  in  his  voice., 
"That,  of  course,  is  another  matter."  He  turned 
to  the  others.  "I'm  willing  to  go  and  see  him 
if  you  are." 

"All  right,  let's  go,"  put  in  Fred. 

"We'll  go,"  said  Jack,  after  a  few  whispered 
words  to  Randy.  "But  you  remember  what  I 
said,  both  of  you.  If  this  is  a  trick  we'll  see  to  it 
that  you  get  the  worst  of  it." 

"You'll  find  out  that  it's  no  trick  as  soon  as 
you  get  to  the  house,"  declared  Slugger  Brown. 

He  and  Nappy  Martell  led  the  way,  and  soon 


A  QUEER  SUMMONS  237 

the  whole  crowd  had  left  Columbina  behind  and 
were  trudging  along  the  muddy  road  leading  to 
Derrickville.  The  way  was  dark  and  anything 
but  inviting,  and  all  of  them  made  slow  progress. 

"The  house  is  over  there  in  the  field,"  said 
Slugger  presently,  as  he  came  to  a  halt.  "You 
needn't  be  afraid,  because  there  are  only  a  very 
old  man  and  a  woman  living  there.  Gabe  Wer 
ner  has  been  boarding  with  them  since  he  came 
down  here." 

"Are  you  fellows  working  for  Carson  Daven 
port?"  questioned  Randy. 

"We  expect  to  work  for  him,  yes.  But  noth 
ing  has  been  settled  as  yet,"  answered  Nappy. 
"He  has  offered  us  thirty  dollars  a  week,  but  we 
think  we  can  get  more  than  that  elsewhere,"  he 
added  loftily. 

"And  what  of  Werner?  Is  he  going  to  work 
with  you?" 

"That  was  the  idea,"  answered  Slugger.  "But 
I  don't  know  what  he'll  do  now.  He's  certainly 
in  bad  shape." 

"How  did  he  get  his  leg  broken?" 

"He  didn't  tell  us  a  word  about  it,"  answered 
Nappy.  "There  is  something  queer  about  the 
whole  transaction.  But  he  said  he  must  see  all 
of  you  Rovers  and  do  it  to-night.  What  he's  got 
on  his  mind,  I  don't  know." 


238    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

The  Rovers  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  They 
were  unarmed,  and  the  place  certainly  looked  like 
a  lonely  one.  They  wondered  if  it  would  be  pos 
sible  for  Carson  Davenport  and  his  crowd  to  be 
at  the  house  waiting  for  them. 

"You  and  Slugger  go  ahead,"  Jack  said.  "We'll 
follow  behind.  And  mark  you,  no  tricks !" 

"There  is  nothing  to  be  afraid  of,"  Slugger 
assured  him.  And  then  he  and  Nappy  stalked 
off  in  the  fast-gathering  darkness.  They  walked 
up  to  the  lonely  house,  and  disappeared  around  a 
corner  of  the  building. 

"Say,  Jack,  this  doesn't  look  right  to  me  at 
all,"  announced  Fred.  "I  wish  I  had  a  pistol." 

"I'm  going  to  arm  myself  with  a  club,"  said 
Randy,  and  looked  around  for  such  a  weapon. 

The  others  did  the  same,  two  of  them  picking 
up  sticks  and  the  others  arming  themselves  with 
stones.  Then  they  advanced  with  caution,  keep 
ing  their  eyes  wide  open  for  the  appearance  of 
anything  that  might  look  dangerous. 

"I  don't  see  any  light  around  the  place,"  an 
nounced  Jack,  as  they  drew  closer. 

"I  wonder  what  became  of  Nappy  and  Slug 
ger?"  broke  in  Fred.  "I  don't  see  them  any 
where." 

"Suppose  we  call  them,"  suggested  Andy. 

"Let  us  walk  around  the  house  first,"  returned 


A  QUEER  SUMMONS  239 

his  twin.  "They  may  have  gone  in  by  the  back 
way.  Most  of  the  folks  living  around  here  use 
the  back  door  for  everything." 

With  added  caution  the  Rover  boys  walked 
slowly  around  one  side  of  the  building.  In  the 
rear  they  found  everything  as  dark  and  deserted 
as  in  the  front. 

"This  is  certainly  strange,"  announced  Jack. 
He  advanced  and  knocked  sharply  on  the  closed 
door. 

There  was  no  reply,  and  he  knocked  a  second 
time.  Then  Randy  beat  upon  the  door  with  his 
stick. 

"It  looks  to  me  as  if  there  wasn't  a  soul  in  the 
place,"  announced  Andy.  "I  wonder  what  has 
become  of  Nappy  and  Slugger?" 

"See  here,  will  you  ?"  cried  Fred  suddenly.  "It 
looks  to  me  as  if  nobody  lived  here.  Every  one 
of  the  windows  is  boarded  up  on  the  inside.  I 
believe  this  house  is  being  used  for  nothing  but  a 
storehouse.  I  don't  believe  a  soul  lives  here." 

"Hello,  Nappy!  Hello,  Slugger!"  called  out 
Jack  loudly.  "Where  are  you?" 

To  this  call  there  was  no  reply. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 
DICK  ROVER'S  REVELATION 

"WE'VE  been  tricked !"  exclaimed  Randy. 

"Just  what  I  think!"  burst  out  Fred.  "They 
didn't  bring  us  here  to  see  Gabe  Werner  at  all !" 

"There  isn't  a  soul  around  the  building,  that's 
certain,"  remarked  Andy.  "What  do  you  sup 
pose  has  become  of  Nappy  and  Slugger?" 

The  Rovers  looked  around  in  the  fast-gathering 
darkness,  but  could  see  no  one.  Then  they  walked 
around  the  building  several  times,  peering  in  all 
directions  for  a  sight  of  the  fellows  who  had 
brought  them  on  this  strange  mission. 

"It's  a  storehouse,  right  enough,"  announced 
Jack.  "And  my  opinion  is  that  everything  is 
nailed  up  except  the  front  door,  and  that,  as  you 
can  see,  has  a  padlock  on  it." 

It  was  certainly  a  mystery,  and  for  the  time 
being  the  Rover  boys  were  unable  to  solve  it. 
Looking  down  on  the  ground,  they  saw  a  num 
ber  of  footprints,  but  it  was  now  too  dark  to  fol 
low  any  of  these. 

240 


DICK  ROVER'S  REVELATION 

"Wish  we  had  brought  a  pocket  flashlight 
along,"  remarked  Fred. 

"It's  getting  as  dark  as  a  stack  of  black  cats," 
said  Andy. 

"Yes,  and  we  had  better  be  getting  back  to 
town  before  it  gets  so  dark  we  lose  our  way,"  re 
turned  Jack. 

As  it  was,  they  had  some  difficulty  in  finding 
the  path  down  to  the  road.  Then  they  stumbled 
along  in  the  darkness,  occasionally  heading  into 
some  mud  hole  up  to  their  ankles. 

"Nappy  and  Slugger  certainly  have  the  laugh 
on  us  for  this,"  said  Fred,  as  they  plowed  along. 
"Maybe  they  thought  we  would  lose  our  way  com 
pletely  in  this  darkness." 

It  was  a  good  half -hour  before  the  Rovers 
reached  the  outskirts  of  Columbina.  At  a  great 
distance  they  could  see  many  twinkling  electric 
lights,  one  of  which  hung  on  the  top  of  every 
oil  derrick.  But  these  were  so  far  off  they  did 
nothing  towards  illuminating  the  way. 

"Almost  ten  o'clock,"  announced  Jack,  consult 
ing  his  watch.  "About  all  we  can  do  is  to  clean 
the  mud  from  our  shoes  and  go  to  bed." 

There  was  a  sleepy  young  clerk  behind  the 
counter  of  the  hotel,  and  he  showed  them  where 
they  could  clean  up. 

"No  bootblacks  in  Columbina,"  said  Randy, 


242 

with  a  grin.  And  then  all  set  to  work  with  a 
whisk  broom  and  brushes  to  clean  up. 

"I  wonder  if  Uncle  Dick  will  get  in  to-night," 
remarked  Fred.  The  last  train  to  stop  at  Col- 
umbina  was  due  in  fifteen  minutes. 

"I  think  I'll  stay  up  and  find  out,"  said  Jack. 

"You  waiting  for  Mr.  Rover?"  demanded  the 
boy  behind  the  counter,  as  he  yawned  and 
stretched  himself.  "If  you  are,  he  came  in  a 
couple  of  hours  ago." 

"Is  that  so!"  cried  Jack,  in  surprise.  "Where 
is  he  now?" 

"I  think  he's  up  in  his  room,  although  I'm  not 
sure.  You  see,  I  was  out  to  a  dance  last  night, 
and  I'm  pretty  tired,  and  I  fell  asleep  a  couple  of 
times  sitting  here  doing  nothing.  Somehow  or 
other,  it  seems  to  be  an  off  night  around  this 
hotel.  Nothing  doing  at  all,"  and  the  sleepy  clerk 
yawned  again. 

"Maybe  he's  up  in  his  room  looking  over  those 
papers  he  brought,"  suggested  Randy.  "Come  on 
up  and  see." 

All  mounted  the  stairs  to  the  third  floor  of  the 
hotel.  When  they  reached  the  room  occupied  by 
Dick  Rover  they  found  the  door  locked,  and  a 
rap  upon  it  brought  no  response. 

"He  isn't  here,  that's  sure,"  said  Jack.  "Maybe 
he  went  out  on  an  errand." 


DICK  ROVER'S  REVELATION  243 

"Unless  he's  in  our  room,"  said  Fred.  In  the 
larger  apartment  which  the  four  boys  occupied 
there  was  a  small  table,  and  Jack's  father  fcad 
several  times  come  in  to  use  this  for  writing 
purposes. 

Jack  had  one  of  the  keys  to  the  room,  and, 
stepping  across  the  hallway,  he  attempted  to  in 
sert  this  in  the  lock.  Much  to  his  surprise,  the 
key  would  not  go  into  the  keyhole. 

"That  is  strange "  he  began,  and  then  tried 

the  door,  to  find  it  unlocked.    Another  key  was 
on  the  inside. 

The  room  was  pitch  dark,  only  a  dim  lamp 
being  lighted  in  the  rear  of  the  long  hallway. 
Jack  stepped  forward  to  get  a  match  from  a 
bureau,  and  as  he  did  so  he  stumbled  over  some 
thing  on  the  floor  and  pitched  headlong. 

"Oh!"  he  gasped,  and  then  gave  a  sudden 
shudder,  for  he  had  felt  the  body  of  someone  be 
side  him.  "Be  careful,"  he  went  on.  "Make  a 
light,  quick !  Here  is  someone  on  the  floor !  I'm 
afraid  it's  dad !" 

The  others  piled  into  the  room,  and  Randy, 
who  happened  to  have  some  matches  in  his 
pocket,  struck  a  light  and  lit  the  lamp. 

There,  on  the  floor  of  the  bedroom,  lay  Dick 
Rover.  There  was  a  small  cut  on  his  left  temple 
from  which  the  blood  was  flowing.  He  W3.S 


244    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

breathing  heavily,  ana  evidently  trying  to  speak. 

"Dad!  Dad!  what  happened  to  you?"  cried 
Jack  hoarsely,  as  he  bent  over  and  raised  his  par 
ent  up. 

"He's  been  hurt!"  exclaimed  Fred.  "See  the 
cut  on  his  forehead.  Wait — I'll  get  some  water." 

He  made  a  dash  for  the  pitcher  and  also  for  a 
towel,  and  while  Jack  supported  his  father  on 
his  arm  the  others  bathed  Dick  Rover's  face  and 
washed  away  the  trickling  blood. 

"He's  been  hit,"  declared  Randy.  "See  the 
lump  on  the  back  of  his  head,"  and  he  pointed  it 
out. 

Presently  Dick  Rover  opened'  his  eyes  and 
stared  vacantly  at  the  anxious  lads. 

"What — what — what  happened  to  me?"  he 
stammered  and  gave  a  gasp.  "Who — who  knocked 
me  down?" 

"That  we  don't  know,  Dad,"  answered  Jack, 
and  he  was  glad  to  realize  that  his  parent  was 
coming  to  his  senses.  "Gee!  I  was  afraid  you 
had  been  killed." 

The  four  boys  raised  Dick  Rover  up  and  laid 
him  on  one  of  the  cots.  They  had  a  little  first- 
aid  kit  with  them,  and  from  this  they  got  some 
plaster  with  which  they  bound  up  the  small  cut. 
It  was  some  time  before  Dick  Rover  felt  able 
to  tell  his  story.  In  the  meanwhile  Fred  dashed 


DICK  ROPER'S  REV ELATION  245 

Downstairs  for  some  hot  water,  which  was  ap 
plied  to  the  lump  on  the  sufferer's  head. 

"I  guess  I'll  get  over  it,"  said  Jack's  father, 
with  a  wan  smile.  "But  they  certainly  did  give 
it  to  me."  Then  he  gave  a  sudden  start.  "What 
about  my  papers?  Are  they  safe?" 

The  boys  looked  around,  but  saw  no  papers  of 
any  kind  in  the  room. 

"I  had  them  in  my  bag.  I  brought  them  in 
here  to  look  them  over,  and  to  do  some  writing 
at  the  table." 

"Well,  there's  no  bag  here  now,  or  papers 
cither,"  announced  Randy. 

"Then  those  rascals  must  have  taken  them} 
That  was  probably  why  they  knocked  me  down. 
They  wanted  to  rob  me." 

"But  who  attacked  you,  Dad?"  questioned 
Jack. 

"That  I  don't  know,  Son.  I  was  seated  at  the 
table  with  the  open  bag  beside  me,  and  was  look 
ing  over  some  of  the  documents  I  had  brought 
from  the  safe  deposit  vault  in  Wichita  Falls  when 
I  heard  a  noise  behind  me  near  the  door.  I  was 
just  about  to  get  up  to  see  what  it  meant,  when 
all  of  a  sudden  I  received  a  terrible  crack  on  the 
back  of  the  head.  I  turned  around,  and  then 
somebody  aimed  another  blow  at  me  that  caught 
pie  on  the  left  temple.  Then  everything  seemed 


246    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

to  dance  before  my  eyes,  and  I  guess  I  must  have 
gone  down  in  a  heap  on  the  floor.  And  that's  all 
I  knew  until  I  found  you  supporting  me  and  bath 
ing  my  forehead." 

"It  must  have  been  those  oil-well  fellows!" 
ejaculated  Fred. 

"I  think  I  see  a  light!"  almost  shouted  Jack. 
"Nappy  and  Slugger  were  in  this  plot.  They 
made  us  go  away  out  of  town  just  so  we  wouldn't 
be  here  with  my  dad  when  the  other  fellows  at 
tacked  him !" 

"I  guess  you're  right,"  answered  Randy. 

"What's  this  you  are  saying?"  questioned  Dick 
Rover,  rather  feebly. 

In  a  few  words  the  boys  explained  the  trick 
Nappy  Martell  and  Slugger  Brown  had  played  on 
them. 

"Yes,  I  guess  you  are  right.  It  must  have  been 
a  part  of  the  game,"  said  Jack's  father.  "And 
are  you  sure  my  bag  and  everything  that  was  in 
it  are  gone?" 

"Yes,  there  isn't  a  single  paper  in  this  room," 
answered  Jack.  "And  when  we  came  up  we 
found  the  door  to  your  room  locked,  so  it  isn't 
likely  they  are  there." 

"They  must  have  dug  out  the  minute  they 
knocked  me  over  and  got  the  papers,"  answered 
Dick  Rover.  "Probably  they  were  afraid  you  or 


DICK  ROVER'S  REVELATION 


247 


somebody  else  might  come  up  and  catch  them  at 
their  dastardly  work.  As  it  is,  it  is  queer  some 
body  didn't  see  them." 

"There  happens  to  be  no  one  down  in  the  office 
but  the  young  clerk,  and  he's  half  asleep,"  an 
swered  Randy.  "Besides  that,  those  fellows  may 
have  come  in  by  the  back  way.  Did  you  catch 
sight  of  them  at  all?" 

"I  can't  say  that  I  did,  Randy.  The  first  blow 
Jdazed  me,  and  while  I  remember  something  of 
two  or  three  forms,  it  is  all  so  vague  that  it 
amounts  to  nothing.  I  rather  think,  however,  that 
there  were  at  least  three  men.'* 

"And  if  there  were,  I'll  bet  a  new  hat  those 
men  were  Davenport,  Tate,  and  Jackson,"  re 
turned  Jack  firmly. 

"You  may  be  right,  Son.  But  you  know  what 
they  say  in  court:  It  is  one  thing  to  know  the 
truth,  and  quite  another  to  be  able  to  prove  it." 

"But  who  would  want  to  steal  those  papers  if 
not  Davenport  and  his  crowd?"  questioned 
Randy.  And  then  he  added  hurriedly :  "Did  they 
rob  you  of  anything  else,  Uncle  Dick?" 

"I  don't  think  so."  Dick  Rover  felt  in  his 
pockets.  "No,  my  money  and  watch  and  my  dia 
mond  ring  are  all  safe.  If  they  had  been  ordinary 
thieves  they  would  certainly  have  taken  every 
thing  of  value." 


248    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK. 

"Our  baggage  doesn't  seem  to  be  disturbed," 
said  Andy,  who  was  looking  around.  "I  guess 
you  are  right — they  were  after  those  documents 
and  nothing  else." 

There  was  a  pause,  and  suddenly  the  boys  saw 
a  queer  smile  pass  over  Dick  Rover's  face,  and 
then  he  uttered  a  peculiar  whistle. 

"What  is  it,  Dad  ?"  said  Jack  wonderingly.  He 
knew  that  his  father  had  a  habit  of  whistling  in 
that  fashion  when  something  struck  him  as  funny. 

"I  was  just  thinking  that  perhaps  those  fellows 
who  robbed  me  had  taken  a  white  elephant  off  my 
hands,"  returned  Dick  Rover. 

"Why,  what  do  you  mean  by  white  elephant?" 
questioned  Andy. 

"I  mean  that  maybe  they  are  fighting  tooth  and 
nail  to  get  possession  of  something  which  I  might 
be  only  too  glad  to  give  them  for  nothing." 

"Oh,  Dad,  are  you  talking  about  the  Lorimer 
Spell  claim?"  questioned  Jack. 

"Yes." 

"But  I  don't  understand." 

"Of  course  you  don't.  But  maybe  you  will 
after  I've  told  my  story.  As  you  know,  I  went 
to  Wichita  Falls  mainly  to  get  the  documents 
which  Lorimer  Spell  had  stored  away  in  the  safe 
deposit  vault  of  a  bank  there.  Well,  I  got  the 
documents,  and  in  looking  them  over  found  that 


DICK  ROVER'S  REVELATION  249 

while  Lorimer  Spell's  claim  to  the  land  seemed  to 
be  fairly  well  established,  still  there  was  some 
thing  of  a  cloud  to  the  title — the  cloud  of  which 
Carson  Davenport  and  his  crowd  are  taking  ad 
vantage.  But  more  than  that,  I  found  that  a  firm 
of  oil  experts  named  Fitch  and  Lunberry  had  gone 
over  the  property  both  for  Spell  and  for  an  oil 
promoter  who  had  thought  to  put  some  money 
into  operations  there.  So  then  I  called  on  the 
firm  and  had  a  long  talk  with  Mr.  Fitch." 

"And  what  did  Mr.  Fitch  have  to  say  about 
the  land?"  asked  Jack  quickly. 

"He  was  very  frank  to  say  that  in  his  opinion 
there  was  no  oil  of  any  kind  on  the  claim.  He 
told  me  that  he  knew  Lorimer  Spell  very  well, 
and  that  while  Spell  was  all  right  in  the  main,  he 
had  been  daffy  on  the  subject  of  oil,  so  much  so 
that  it  had  just  about  turned  the  poor  fellow's 
brain  until  he  imagined  that  there  was  fabulous 
wealth  in  oil  on  every  acre  he  possessed.  Mr. 
Fitch  got  down  to  facts  and  figures,  and  showed 
me  all  of  his  deductions,  and  he  said  that  it  was 
his  honest  opinion  that  any  money  spent  on  the 
Lorimer  Spell  claim  would  be  utterly  wasted." 


CHAPTER   XXV 

DAVENPORT'S  ACCUSATION 

"THEN  the  Lorimer  Spell  claim  is  positively 
no  good !"  exclaimed  Jack. 

"I  wouldn't  say  that  exactly,  Jack.  No  claim 
down  here  can  be  said  to  be  worthless  until  it  has 
actually  been  bored  for  oil.  It  is  just  possible 
that  those  oil  experts  may  be  mistaken.  At  the 
same  time,  from  what  Mr.  Fitch  said,  I  would  be 
very  slow  about  putting  money  in  that  land." 

"It's  too  bad,  Uncle  Dick,  if  that  claim's  no 
good  when  we  all  supposed  it  would  be  so  won 
derful,"  came  from  Fred,  and  his  face  showed  hi* 
disappointment. 

"Well,  I  haven't  lost  anything,"  answered  his 
Uncle  Dick.  "I  feel  a  great  deal  better  than  if  I 
had  sunk  thirty  or  forty  thousand  dollars  in  a 
dry  hole." 

Andy  began  to  snicker. 

"Gee !  it's  rich,  Uncle  Dick,  to  pass  Davenport 
and  that  crowd  the  white  elephant,"  he  chuckled. 
"I  only  hope  they  get  bit  bad,  especially  if  they 
250 


DAVENPORT'S  ACCUSATION  2$l 

the  rascals  who  came  here  and  knocked  you 
out." 

"They  must  have  been  the  crowd,  because  no 
one  else  would  be  interested  in  those  documents. 
They  knew  I  was  going  to  Wichita  Falls  to  get 
them,  and  they  probably  hung  around  waiting 
for  my  return.  And  they  probably  got  Martell 
and  Brown  to  get  you  boys  out  of  the  way.  The 
story  about  Gabe  Werner  having  a  broken  leg 
was  probably  faked  up." 

"Nappy  admitted  that  he  and  Slugger  expected 
to  work  for  the  Davenport  crowd,"  said  Jack. 
"They  are  all  tarred  with  the  same  stick,  and  I 
hope  they  get  stuck  bad." 

"Uncle  Dick,  why  don't  you  pretend  to  be  ter 
ribly  put  out  over  the  fact  that  you  have  lost 
your  interest  in  the  claim?"  cried  Andy.  "That 
will  throw  them  completely  off  the  track.  Let 
them  imagine  that  you  think  there  is  a  lot  of  oil 
to  be  found  there." 

"I'll  think  it  over  and  at  the  same  time  I'll 
think  over  what  other  investments  I  might  make 
while  I'm  down  here.  But  just  at  present  I  think 
I'll  try  to  get  a  good  night's  sleep  and  reduce  this 
swelling  on  my  head,"  added  Jack's  father,  as 
he  felt  of  the  bump  tenderly. 

"I  know  one  person  who  would  like  you  to  in 
terest  yourself  in  his  claim!"  exclaimed  Jack. 


252  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK, 

"That  is  Mr.  John  Franklin,  the  man  we  saved 
from  drowning  in  the  Rick  Rack  River  freshet." 

Thereupon  the  boys  told  of  their  meeting  with 
Mr.  Franklin  and  Phil,  and  also  related  what 
particulars  they  knew  concerning  the  man's  land 
and  how  he  had  gotten  it  out  of  the  clutches  of 
the  oil  sharpers. 

"That  might  be  worth  looking  into,"  said  Dick 
Rover.  "I'll  take  it  up  a  little  later,  after  I  feel 
better,  and  after  I  have  had  it  out  with  Daven 
port  and  his  crowd." 

The  boys  assisted  Jack's  father  to  his  room  and 
Jack  aided  him  in  retiring.  Meanwhile  Randy 
went  down  to  interview  the  sleepy  hotel  clerk. 

"That  fellow  doesn't  know  a  thing  about  what 
happened,"  announced  Randy  on  his  return. 
"Those  men  must  have  come  in  and  gone  out  while 
he  was  taking  a  snooze.  And  as  luck  would  have 
it  for  those  rascals,  no  one  else  seems  to  have 
been  around." 

With  nothing  of  special  importance  to  do,  the 
whole  crowd  slept  late  on  the  following  morning, 
which  was  Sunday.  Dick  Rover  was  glad  to  take 
it  easy,  but  declined  to  have  a  physician  when 
that  was  suggested. 

"It  was  only  an  ordinary  blow,  and  did  nothing 
more  than  knock  me  out  for  a  little  while,"  said 
he.  "The  swelling  on  my  head  is  gradually  going 


DAVENPORT'S  ACCUSATION,  253 

down,  and  that  little  cut  on  the  temple  doesn't 
amount  to  much." 

"Those  men  ought  all  to  be  put  in  prison!" 
burst  out  Fred. 

"Possibly  you  are  right,  Fred.  But  you  must 
remember  that  you  are  now  in  a  section  of  the 
country  where  living  is  rather  rough.  A  new  oil 
town  and  a  new  mining  camp  are  pretty  much  on 
the  same  level.  You  often  have  to  take  the  law 
into  your  own  hands  and  fight  your  way  through 
the  best  you  can.  Later  there  will  be  regular  law 
and  order,  and  then  matters  will  run  more 
smoothly." 

Dick  Rover  did  not  mention  the  matter  to  the 
boys,  but  from  that  day  on  he  went  armed,  re 
solved  to  take  no  more  chances  should  any  of  the 
oil  land  swindlers  attack  him  again. 

Two  more  days  passed,  and  during  that  time 
the  boys  visited  a  number  of  localities  in  that 
vicinity,  trying  to  catch  sight  of  Nappy  and  Slug 
ger,  and  also  Werner.  But  those  three  unworthies 
did  not  show  themselves. 

"They  know  we've  got  it  in  for  them,"  declared 
Jack.  "They'll  keep  in  hiding  until  they  think 
this  affair  has  blown  over." 

On  the  third  day  Dick  Rover  felt  quite  like 
himself,  and  he  hired  an  automobile  to  take  him 
and  the  boys,  as  well  as  Nick  Ogilvie,  to  the 


=254  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Lorimer  Spell  claim.  Somewhat  to  his  surprise, 
he  found  Carson  Davenport  on  the  land,  along 
with  Tate  and  Jackson  and  half  a  dozen  other 
men.  More  oil-well  machinery  had  been  brought 
up  and  dumped  in  a  spot  near  the  brook. 

"What's  the  meaning  of  this,  Davenport?" 
questioned  Jack's  father  shortly. 

"It  means  that  I'm  going  to  work  on  my  own 
hook,  Rover,"  answered  Davenport,  and  there  was 
a  sneer  in  his  voice.  "I've  got  tired  of  trying 
to  make  a  deal  with  you,  and  I've  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  your  claim  is  no  good." 

"I  think  I  understand  you  perfectly,"  answered 
Dick  Rover,  and  looked  at  the  man  so  sharply  that 
Davenport  had  to  drop  his  eyes.  "You  think  you 
have  everything  your  own  way,  eh  ?" 

"Never  mind  what  I  think.  If  you've  got  any 
real  claim  on  this  property  you  show  the  evi 
dences.  That  little  paper  that  Lorimer  Spell 
wrote  out  on  the  battlefield  of  France  doesn't  hold 
water  with  me.  You've  got  to  show  me  the  deeds, 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing." 

"A  man  can't  show  papers  when  he  has  been 
robbed  of  them,"  went  on  Jack's  father  pointedly. 

"Humph!  So  that's  your  latest  story,  is  it, 
Rover?  First  when  I  asked  you  for  the  papers 
you  said  they  were  in  a  safe  deposit  vault  in 
Wichita  Falls." 


"So  they  were.  But  now  I  have  been  robbed 
of  them,  and  you  know  it." 

"I  know  it  ?  Say,  Rover,  are  you  going  crazy  ? 
I  don't  know  any  such  thing,"  and  now  Daven 
port  put  on  an  assumption  of  anger. 

"I  say  you  do  know  it — you  and  your  whole 
crowd!"  retorted  Dick  Rover.  "This  land  is  a 
tract  said  to  be  full  of  oil,  and  you  want  to  do 
me  out  of  my  rights."  And  now  Jack's  father 
appeared  to  warm  up. 

"Rover,  I've  had  enough  of  your  bluffing,  and  I 
won't  stand  for  any  more  of  it!"  cried  Carson 
Davenport.  "You  may  be  able  to  put  up  a  big 
front  with  some  folks,  but  it  won't  go  with  me. 
I  claim  that  this  land  is  mine,  and  I  won't  pay 
any  more  attention  to  what  you  say  until  you 
produce  those  precious  papers  that  you  have  said 
so  much  about.  And  even  then  I  may  not  listen 
to  you.  My  private  opinion  is  that  the  army  au 
thorities  ought  to  take  up  your  case  and  make  an 
example  of  you,"  went  on  the  oil  promoter,  with 
more  of  a  sneer  than  before. 

"The  army  authorities?"  questioned  Dick  Ro 
ver,  puzzled. 

"That's  what  I  said.  I've  heard  a  thing  or  two 
about  you.  It  was  all  well  enough  for  you  to 
pull  Spell  in  and  get  a  medal  for  doing  it.  But 
when  that  poor  fool  wrote  out  a  so-called  will 


•356    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

leaving  you  everything  he  possessed,  I  reckon  he 
rather  put  his  foot  into  it,"  finished  Davenport 
significantly. 

Jack's  father  and  the  boys  were,  of  course, 
astonished,  and  even  Davenport's  companions 
showed  that  this  was  something  they  had  not 
been  expecting.  The  men  crowded  around  to  find 
out  what  was  coming  next. 

"Davenport,  I'll  have  to  ask  you  to  explain 
yourself !"  exclaimed  Dick  Rover,  and  strode  for- 
;ward,  his  eyes  flashing. 

"Want  me  to  explain  myself,  do  you?"  cried 
the  oil  promoter  savagely.  "All  right,  then,  I 
will.  According  to  reports  Lorimer  Spell  ran  out 
ahead  of  you  in  that  fight,  and  then  he  was  shot 
in  the  back.  Do  you  understand  that — shot  in 
the  back!  Well,  who  did  it?  Certainly  not  the 
Germans.  They  were  in  front  of  him." 

"Do  you  mean  to  insinuate  that  I  or  one  of 
our  other  men  shot  Spell?"  demanded  Dick  Ro- 
yer,  and  now  his  face  was  almost  white. 

"He  had  made  a  will  in  your  favor — you  were 
the  only  one  to  profit  by  his  death." 

"You  cur,  you !"  cried  Dick  Rover.  And  beside 
himself  with  righteous  anger,  he  sprang  forward 
and  planted  a  blow  on  Carson  Davenport's  chin 
that  made  the  oil  well  promoter  stagger  back  and 
fall  flat. 


DAVENPORTS  ACCUSATION  2$% 

"Hi!  Hi!  None  of  that  around  here!"  bel 
lowed  Jake  Tate,  and  caught  Dick  Rover  by  the 
arm. 

"You  get  back  there,"  was  the  quick  reply. 
"This  is  none  of  your  affair.  This  man  has  ac 
cused  me  of  something,  and  he  is  going  to  take  it 
back." 

"You  let  my  father  alone !"  broke  in  Jack,  and 
rushed  toward  Tate,  followed  by  Randy  and  Nick 
Ogilvie.  Then  the  fellow  fell  back.  Jackson 
viewed  the  contest  in  silence. 

By  this  time  Carson  Davenport  was  struggling 
to  his  feet.  He  was  in  a  terrible  rage  and  came 
at  Dick  Rover  blusteringly. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  hitting  me  that  way, 
Rover?"  he  howled. 

"You  take  back  what  you  said,  Davenport.  If 
you  don't  I'll  give  you  another  one!"  exclaimed 
Jack's  father. 

"I'll  take  back  nothing." 

"All  right,  then — here  goes !"  And  once  more 
Dick  Rover's  fist  shot  out,  and  again  the  oil  well 
promoter  measured  his  length  on  the  ground. 

This  time  as  he  arose  he  put  his  hand  behind 
him  in  his  hip  pocket.  But  before  he  could  draw 
any  weapon,  if  such  was  his  intention,  Dick  Rover 
was  on  him  and  had  his  arms  pinioned. 

"There'll  be  no  shooting  here,  Davenport.  You 


^58  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

try  it,  and  you'll  get  the  worst  of  it  Now,  then, 
you  take  back  what  you  said!"  and  Dick  Rover 
shoved  his  clenched  fist  under  the  other's  nose. 

Carson  Davenport  could  bluster,  but  at  heart 
he  was  more  or  less  of  a  coward.  He  tried  to 
retreat,  and  as  Jack's  father  followed  him  up  he 
mumbled  some  words  about  there  being  a  mis 
take  and  that  he  had  not  meant  to  say  just  what 
Jack's  father  had  imagined. 

"Poor  Lorimer  Spell  was  shot  by  the  Huns/* 
said  Dick  Rover,  for  the  benefit  of  the  other  men 
standing  around.  "He  had  gone  on  ahead  of 
our  party,  and  then,  finding  out  his  mistake,  he 
was  in  the  act  of  turning  around  to  get  back  in 
line  when  the  shot  struck  him  that  killed  him. 
To  say  that  he  was  shot  down  by  any  of  his  own 
crowd  is  a  wicked  falsehood.  Half  a  dozen  men 
of  our  command  can  prove  every  word  of  what  I 
have  said." 

"You'll  rue  the  day  you  pitched  into  me, 
Rover,"  grumbled  Davenport,  but  took  good  care 
to  keep  out  of  reach. 

"You  brought  it  on  yourself,"  retorted  Jack's 
father.  "And  now,  as  for  this  claim,"  he  added, 
after  a  slight  pause.  "As  all  of  my  papers  have 
been  stolen  I  presume  I  can  do  nothing,  even 
though  this  land  may  be  the  most  valuable  in  oil 
in  this  vicinity.  But  I  will  watch  the  turn  of 


DAVENPORTS  ACCUSATION  259 

affairs,  and  if  I  get  a  chance  to  prove  anything 
I'll  do  it." 

"You  show  me  your  papers,  and  if  they  are  all 
right,  I'll  see  that  you  get  what  is  coming  to 
you,"  mumbled  Davenport.  "But  just  the  same, 
let  me  repeat — I  don't  believe  there  are  any  papers. 
The  whole  thing  was  a  faked-up  story  to  get  me 
to  give  up  my  claim."  Davenport  was  nursing 
his  bruised  chin.  "And  don't  forget  that  you 
knocked  me  down  when  you  had  no  right  to  do 
it,"  he  added  uglily. 

"Are  you  going  to  sink  a  well  here?" 

"That's  our  business." 

"What's  the  use  of  trying  to  hide  it,  anyhow?" 
put  in  Jake  Tate.  "Yes,  we're  going  to  sink  a 
well  here  just  as  soon  as  we  can  get  our  machinery 
in  working  order." 

"And  we're  going  to  do  it  with  our  own  money. 
We're  not  asking  any  assistance  from  you,"  added 
Jackson. 

"All  right,  then,  go  ahead,"  said  Dick  Rover. 
"I  have  no  more  to  say — at  least  for  the  pres 
ent."  And  then,  motioning  to  the  four  boys  and 
Nick  Ogilvie  to  follow  him,  he  withdrew. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

NEWS    OF    RUTH 

"I  GUESS  they  are  pretty  sure  there  is  oil  on 
that  land,"  chuckled  Andy,  as  the  whole  party  got 
aboard  the  automobile  and  started  back  for  town. 

"I  hope  they  sink  about  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  that  ground  and  get  nothing  for  their 
trouble,"  added  his  twin. 

"Gee,  Dad,  you  certainly  did  soak  Davenport 
a  couple!"  cried  Jack  admiringly. 

"I  did  it  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  Son.  I 
couldn't  help  it,"  declared  Dick  Rover.  "It  was 
too  great  an  insult  to  pass  unnoticed." 

"And  to  think  he  didn't  have  the  nerve  to  fight 
back !"  added  Fred.  "I  didn't  imagine  he  was  such 
a  coward." 

"Well,  I  was  surprised  at  that  myself,"  an 
swered  his  uncle,  with  something  of  a  smile.  "But 
now  listen  to  me,  boys,"  he  added  seriously. 
"Don't  thfnk  because  I  flew  into  Davenport  that 
that  is  the  right  thing  to  do  under  all  circum 
stances.  He  simply  got  me  going  before  I  knew 
260 


NEWS  OF  RUTH  261 

it.  Ordinarily  righting  doesn't  pay,  and  I  want 
you  to  know  it." 

"But,  Uncle  Dick,  that  wasn't  a  fight — that 
was  only  a  good  spanking,"  said  Andy,  and  at 
this  ill  the  others  had  to  snicker. 

"I  reckon  Davenport  knew  he  was  in  the  wrong 
when  he  made  that  dirty  remark,"  came  from 
Nick  Ogilvie.  "Why,  in  these  parts  many  a  man 
would  have  shot  him  down  for  those  words.  I 
don't  'wonder  your  father  flew  into  him.  He 
should  have  been  licked  until  he  was  a  fit  subject 
for  the  hospital." 

"Do  you  think  I  am  doing  right  to  let  them 
work  the  claim?"  questioned  Jack's  father. 

"I  certainly  do,  Mr.  Rover.  I  want  to  get  busy 
and  earn  the  salary  you  have  promised  me,  but  I 
wouldn't  want  to  start  operations  anywhere  on 
that  Spell  claim.  I  know  it  has  been  thoroughly 
gone  over  by  both  Fitch  and  Lunberry,  and  both 
of  those  men  are  as  good  experts  as  you  can  find 
anywhere." 

"Well,  that  forces  me  out  of  business  for  the 
time  being,  Ogilvie.  I'll  have  to  look  around  a 
little  and  see  if  it  is  worth  while  for  me  to  take 
hold  elsewhere.  I  presume  all  the  really  good 
claims  around  here  have  been  covered." 

"I  don't  know  as  to  that,  Mr.  Rover.  You  see, 
lots  of  the  ranches  haven't  been  investigated  very 


262    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

thoroughly.  A  fellow  hits  oil  in  one  place  and 
the  whole  gang  follow  him  like  a  lot  of  sheep, 
and  in  doing  that  they  may  be  passing  by  some 
thing  a  good  deal  better." 

"Dad,  why  not  look  into  this  claim  the  Franlc- 
lins  own?"  came  from  Jack. 

"Are  you  talking  of  John  Franklin?"  ques 
tioned  Nick  Ogilvie. 

"Yes." 

"I  thought  that  claim  was  in  the  hands  of  some 
other  fellows — Tate,  Jackson,  and  that  crowd." 

"They  did  make  a  claim  on  it,  so  Mr.  Frank 
lin  says,  but  he  managed  in  some  way  or  other  to 
get  them  out  of  it.  I  guess  they  left  it  mostly 
because  they  thought  they  could  do  better  on  the 
Spell  place." 

"Well,  I  don't  know  anything  about  John 
Franklin's  place,  but  I  do  know  he's  a  decent  sort 
of  fellow  and  I'd  like  to  see  him  do  well." 

"If  you  are  satisfied  that  Mr.  Fitch  is  all  right, 
Dad,  why  not  have  him  make  a  survey  of  the 
Franklin  place?"  suggested  Jack. 

"Perhaps  I'll  do  that — after  I've  had  a  talk  witK 
Franklin,"  answered  his  father. 

Dick  Rover  was  not  a  person  to  waste  time,  an3 
he  sought  out  John  Franklin  and  his  son  Phil 
the  very  next  day  and  had  a  long  talk  with  the 
pair.  Then,  on  the  Monday  following,  he  visited 


NEWS  OF  RUTH  263 

Hie  Franklin  farm,  taking1  Nick  Ogilvie  and  two 
other  oil  men  with  him.  The  boys  wished  to  go 
along,  but  to  this  Jack's  father  demurred. 

"I  don't  want  too  much  of  a  crowd  along,"  he 
said.  "If  anything  comes  of  it  you  can  visit  the 
place  later.  At  present  you  had  better  try  to 
amuse  yourselves  around  the  town.  And  do  try 
to  keep  out  of  trouble,"  he  added,  with  a  smile. 

Left  to  themselves,  the  four  young  Rovers 
visited  the  railroad  station  and  then  drifted  into 
the  shooting  gallery.  Here  they  got  up  a  little 
contest  among  themselves,  shooting  at  the  longest 
range  target  the  gallery  afforded.  In  this  contest, 
which  lasted  the  best  part  of  an  hour,  Jack  came 
out  ahead,  making  seventeen  bull's-eyes  out  of  a 
possible  twenty-five.  Next  to  him  came  Randy 
with  a  score  of  fifteen. 

"Say,  what  kind  of  a  prize  do  I  get?"  ques 
tioned  Andy,  who  had  hit  the  bull's-eye  but  nine 
times,  two  less  than  Fred. 

"You  get  a  decorated  cabbage  head,  Andy," 
replied  his  twin.  "A  cabbage  head  and  two  lem 
ons." 

"I  don't  care,  I  saved  the  target  for  the  man, 
anyway,"  grinned  the  fun-loving  Rover.  "The 
one  Jack  shot  at  is  all  mussed  up."  And  at  this 
sally  the  others  had  to  laugh. 

After  lunch  the  bovs  sat  down  to  write  some 


'264  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF 

letters  and  to  read  some  newspapers  which  had 
just  come  in.  In  the  news  was  word  of  some 
big  oil  well  strikes  at  a  place  about  forty  miles 
distant. 

"Gosh!  look  at  this,  will  you?"  cried  Fred, 
pointing  to  the  article.  "Two  wells  just  came  in, 
and  each  of  them  good  for  twelve  hundred  bar 
rels  of  oil  a  day !  Now  that's  what  I  call  some 
thing  like!" 

"Wouldn't  it  be  glorious  if  my  dad  could  strike 
something  like  that  ?" 

"I  wish  we  could  hit  half  a  dozen  wells,  then 
our  dads  could  start  The  Rover  Oil  Company. 
We'd  make  money  hand  over  fist.  Wouldn't 
that  be  grand!" 

"You  keep  on  and  you'll  be  dreaming  of  oil," 
laughed  Jack. 

"It  certainly  is  the  land  of  luck,"  returned 
Randy. 

"It  doesn't  look  like  the  land  of  luck  for  this 
fellow,"  remarked  Fred,  pointing  to  a  ragged  and 
unkempt  individual  who  had  just  entered  the 
reading  room  of  the  hotel.  The  man  was  about 
middle  age,  and  had  a  most  decidedly  dejected 
appearance. 

"I  was  wondering  if  you  young  gents  couldn't 
aid  me  a  little?"  he  whined,  coming  up  to  Jack 
and  Randy.  "I've  been  playing  in  mighty  hard. 


NEWS  OF  RUTH  26$ 

luck  lately.  I  haven't  had  a  square  meal  in  two 
days." 

"What's  the  matter — can't  you  get  a  job?" 
asked  Jack. 

"Job!  What  do  you  mean?"  questioned  the 
unkempt  individual  in  wonder. 

"If  you're  out  of  luck,  why  don't  you  go  to 
work?" 

"Say,  maybe  you  don't  know  who  I  am!"  ex 
claimed  the  man  indignantly. 

"You're  right  there.    Who  are  you?" 

"I  am  Wellington  Jonkers,  the  man  who  opened 
the  Little  Kitty  and  the  Fat  Herring.  You  must 
have  heard  about  those  properties.  We  sold, 
eighty  thousand  shares  of  one  and  sixty  thousand 
shares  of  the  other." 

"What  at?"  questioned  Randy.  "Two  cents  a 
share?" 

"No,  sir!  Those  shares  went  for  twenty  and 
twenty-five  cents,"  said  the  man.  And  then, 
lowering  his  voice  to  a  confidential  tone,  he  con 
tinued  :  "If  you  young  gents  can  stake  me  to  a 
hundred  or  two  I  can  put  you  wise  to  the  biggest 
proposition  in  oil  down  here — a  proposition  that 
is  bound  to  bring  in  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
'dollars  three  months  after  it's  started.  I've  got 
everything  fixed  to  go  right  ahead.  You  just  put 
up  the  two  hundred,  and  I'll  show  you  some  facts 


266  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

and  figures  that  will  open  your  eyes.  I've  got  the 
real  dope,  and " 

"You  poor  fish,  you!"  exclaimed  Jack.  "What 
do  you  take  us  for,  anyhow  ?" 

He  and  the  others  had  seen  this  type  of  oil 
well  community  parasite  before.  In  the  restau 
rant  attached  to  the  hotel  and  also  at  the  railroad 
station  and  at  the  shooting  gallery  they  had  met 
more  than  one  slick  individual  who  had  wanted 
to  "put  them  wise  to  the  biggest  oil  proposition" 
imaginable,  all  for  the  small  sum  of  from  two 
cents  to  fifty  cents  per  share  in  oil  wells  with 
such  fanciful  names  as  Sure  Winner,  Daylight 
Luck,  and  Sunshine  Sally. 

"Then  you  don't  want  to  go  into  a  real  good 
thing?"  said  the  man,  his  face  falling. 

"Not  with  you." 

The  man  turned  away,  but  then  turned  back : 

"Say,  you  couldn't  lend  me  five  dollars  until 
to-night,  could  you?  I'm  a  little  short.  My 
pard  will  be  back  on  the  seven-fifteen  train,  and 
then  I'll  be  all  fixed  again." 

"I  haven't  anything  for  you,"  answered  Jack 
shortly. 

"And  neither  have  I,"  added  Randy.  And  then, 
lighting  a  cigarette,  the  man  shuffled  away  to  see 
if  he  could  not  find  some  victims  elsewhere. 

"There's  your  land  of  luck  from  another  an- 


NEWS  OF  RUTH  267 

gle,"  remarked  Jack.  "What  pests  those  fellows 
are." 

"Well,  I  suppose  they  start  in  with  all  sorts  of 
hopes,  Jack.  And  then  they  sink  lower  and  lower 
as  nothing  proves  lucky,"  answered  his  cousin. 

The  boys  were  waiting  for  the  mail,  and  pres 
ently  it  came  in.  There  were  letters  for  all  of 
them,  some  from  home  and  others  from  their 
chums  who  were  now  enjoying  themselves  in  vari 
ous  places.  Dan  Soppinger  had  gone  to  Atlantic 
City,  while  Ned  Lowe  and  Walt  Baxter  were  on 
an  island  in  Casco  Bay  on  the  Maine  coast.  Gif 
was  visiting  Spouter  and  his  folks  in  a  camp  at 
Lake  George. 

"I'll  bet  they're  having  a  lot  of  fun  at  Lake 
George,"  remarked  Fred,  "swimming  and  motor- 
boating,  and  all  that." 

"Fred  is  thinking  of  May,"  returned  Andy,  with 
a  grin. 

"Aw,  you  cut  that  out,  Andy!"  retorted  his 
cousin,  growing  slightly  red  in  the  face.  "You 
know  you'd  like  to  be  up  there  yourself." 

One  of  Jack's  letters  was  from  Gif,  and  in  that 
his  chum  mentioned  the  fact  that  Ruth  was  still 
in  the  care  of  the  eye  specialist  and  that  her  case 
was  a  very  serious  one.  He  told  Jack  much 
more  than  Martha  had  let  out,  and  this  news, 
made  the  oldest  Rover  boy  worry  greatly. 


268    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"It's  a  terrible  thing,"  he  confided  to  Randy. 
"Just  suppose  poor  Ruth  should  go  blind!"  and 
he  shuddered. 

"Oh,  Jack!  I  don't  believe  it's  as  bad  as  all 
that,"  cried  his  cousin.  "Why,  Ruth  was  almost 
over  it  when  we  came  away  from  school." 

"No,  she  wasn't.  That's  just  the  trouble.  The 
^doctor  up  there  evidently  didn't  give  her  enough 
care — or,  at  least,  just  the  right  kind  of  care.  Of 
course,  he  did  the  best  he  knew  how,  but  he 
wasn't  an  expert  in  that  line.  After  Ruth  got 
home  her  eyes  must  have  developed  some  new 
trouble,  all,  of  course,  on  account  of  that  pepper 
Werner  threw." 

"It  was  a  rotten  thing  for  Werner  to  do !"  de 
clared  Randy,  his  eyes  flashing.  "Really,  do  you 
know,  Jack,  I  think  we  should  have  had  him  ar 
rested  for  it." 

"He'll  certainly  have  to  account  to  the  Steven- 
sons  if  Ruth  goes  blind — he  and  his  father.  I 
believe  the  Stevensons  could  sue  Mr.  Werner  for 
big  damages." 

"Of  course  they  could." 

"That  certainly  is  a  terrible  affair,"  remarked 
Fred,  who  had  been  perusing  Gif's  letter.  "I 
think  we  ought  to  round  Werner  up  and  give  it 
to  him  good  and  plenty.  He  deserves  the  licking 
of  his  life." 


NEWS  OF  RUTH  269 

"The  question  is — where  is  Werner?"  put  in 
Andy. 

"If  he  is  still  around  Columbina  he  must  be 
with  Nappy  and  Slugger,"  said  Randy.  "But  it's 
just  possible  that  he  has  cleared  out,  thinking  that 
we  might  hand  him  over  to  the  authorities." 

"I  can't  understand  what  would  possess  a  fel 
low  to  do  such  a  dirty  thing  as  that,"  was  Fred's 
comment.  "Why,  he  might  have  blinded  Jack,  as 
well  as  Ruth.  And,  by  the  way,  Jack,  how  do 
your  eyes  feel?" 

"They  feel  just  about  as  usual.  At  first  they 
'felt  rather  scratchy  and  watery,  but  now  I  haven't 
noticed  anything  unusual  for  some  time — in  fact, 
never  since  we  came  down  to  Texas.  But,  you 
see,  I  got  very  little  of  the  pepper.  The  most  of 
it  went  over  my  shoulder  and  right  into  poor 
Ruth's  eyes." 

The  boys  discussed  the  matter  for  some  time, 
and  then  turned  to  finish  the  letters  they  had 
started  to  write.  Soon  the  twins  and  Fred  were 
deep  in  their  writing,  but  Jack  could  not  settle 
himself  to  put  down  a  word.  His  mind  was  with 
Ruth.  What  if  the  girl  he  thought  so  much  of 
should  go  blind?  It  was  a  thought  that  chilled 
him  to  the  heart. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

CAUGHT    BY    THE    ENEMY 

DICK  ROVER  did  not  return  to  the  hotel  until 
late  that  evening.  The  boys  were  waiting  for 
him,  and  Jack  noted  that  his  father's  face  wore 
a  smile  of  satisfaction. 

"I  think  I  have  struck  something  worth  while," 
said  he.  "I  have  been  over  the  Franklin  claim 
very  carefully  with  Nick  Ogilvie  and  the  two  men 
he  recommended,  and  as  a  result  I  have  already 
telegraphed  for  Mr.  Fitch  to  come  here." 

"Then  Ogilvie  and  the  others  think  there  is  oil 
on  that  claim?"  questioned  Randy  quickly. 

"They  say  the  indications  are  very  good.  In 
fact,  one  of  the  men  was  very  enthusiastic  and 
he  was  willing  to  put  up  five  thousand  dollars 
toward  boring  a  well  in  one  spot  that  he  picked 
out." 

"That  certainly  shows  he  must  have  faith  in 
it,"  remarked  Fred. 

"When  do  you  expect  Mr.  Fitch?"  asked 
Andy. 

270 


CAUGHT  BY  THE  ENEMY 

"I  asked  him  to  come  over  as  soon  as  possible 
- — to-morrow  if  he  could." 

"Do  you  think  you  can  make  some  kind  of  a 
reasonable  arrangement  with  Mr.  Franklin,  in, 
case  the  oil  expert's  report  is  good?"  asked  Jack. 

"Yes,  I  found  Mr.  Franklin  a  very  fair  man. 
Of  course,  he  would  like  to  get  as  much  as  pos-, 
sible  out  of  any  deal  that  is  made.  But  he  is 
reasonable,  and  has  agreed  to  give  me  entire 
charge  of  the  matter  and  take  his  pay  at  the  rate 
of  one-eighth  of  all  the  oil  that  may  be  produced." 

After  that  Dick  Rover  went  into  many  of  the 
details  concerning  the  land  and  what  the  different 
oil  men  had  said  regarding  it.  Of  course  the 
boys  were  tremendously  interested,  not  only  on 
their  own  account,  but  also  because  of  Phil 
Franklin. 

"I  liked  that  fellow  first  rate,"  said  Fred,  "and 
I  do  hope  his  father  is  able  to  get  some  money  out 
of  this." 

On  the  following  day  Mr.  Fitch  came  in,  and 
he  and  Jack's  father  went  over  the  matter  very 
carefully.  Then  the  oil  expert  said  he  would  be-, 
gin  an  inspection  of  the  property  as  soon  as  he 
could  send  for  his  outfit. 

After  that  there  was  little  for  the  boys  to  do 
but  wait.  Dick  Rover  took  another  trip  to  Wich 
ita  Falls,  and  then  to  several  other  places  in  the 


572    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

oil  fields,  including  two  towns  in  Oklahoma.  He 
was  getting  figures  of  oil-well  machinery,  and 
also  trying  to  become  better  acquainted  with  the 
whole  oil  proposition. 

"You  see,  it's  a  new  thing  to  me,"  he  explained 
to  Jack.  "It's  altogether  different  from  those 
mining  interests  your  uncles  and  I  hold  in  the 
West  and  in  Alaska.  I've  never  had  anything  to 
<lo  with  oil  before,  and  so  I  am  going  a  bit  slow, 
so  as  to  avoid  mistakes  if  possible." 

As  mentioned  before,  the  Franklin  farm  was 
located  near  a  place  called  Pottown.  The  Ro 
vers  visited  this  community  and  found  there  a 
small  but  well-kept  hotel  at  which  they  took  din 
ner  one  day. 

"I  think  I  like  this  just  as  well  as  the  hotel  in 
Columbina,"  remarked  Fred. 

"In  some  respects  I  think  I  like  it  better,"  an 
swered  Randy. 

"What  would  you  say  to  transferring  to  Pot-i 
town?"  questioned  their  uncle.  "Then  you  could 
be  quite  close  to  the  Franklins  while  you  stay 
here." 

This  suited  the  boys,  and  as  a  result  the  trans 
fer  was  made  early  the  next  week.  The  Rovers 
had  a  suite  of  three  rooms,  Jack's  father  occupy 
ing  one,  the  twins  another,  and  Fred  and  Jack 
the  third. 


CAUGHT  BY  THE  ENEMY 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Fitch  had  gone  to  work 
on  the  Franklin  farm.  He  had  with  him  two  of 
his  best  men,  and  all  of  them  went  over  the  entire 
place  with  care.  They  also  visited  all  of  the  wells 
in  that  vicinity,  as  well  as  the  unfinished  borings. 

"When  do  you  think  you  can  make  a  report, 
Mr.  Fitch  ?"  questioned  Dick  Rover  one  day. 

"I'm  almost  ready  now,  Mr.  Rover.  You  shall 
have  the  report  by  next  Monday." 

The  weather  had  been  rather  dry,  and  now  the 
roads  throughout  that  section  were  much  better 
than  they  had  been.  In  Pottown  the  boys  had 
little  trouble  in  hiring  an  automobile,  and  they 
often  took  trips  to  various  places  where  the  oil 
wells  were  in  operation.  They  saw  another  well 
set  off,  and  managed  to  get  themselves  covered 
with  not  a  little  of  the  black  fluid. 

"Suppose  we  take  a  run  over  to  the  Spell 
farm  ?"  suggested  Jack  one  day.  "I've  been  won 
dering  whether  they  really  went  ahead  or  whether 
it  was  only  a  bluff." 

"I  don't  think  it  was  any  bluff,"  returned 
Randy.  "They  were  getting  in  their  machinery 
just  as  fast  as  they  could." 

If  Dick  Rover  had  been  present  he  might  Have 
advised  against  visiting  the  Lorimer  Spell  claim. 
In  a  roundabout  way  he  had  heard  from  Carson 
Davenport.  The  oil  well  promoter  had  not  for- 


274    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

gotten  how  he  had  been  knocked  down,  and  he  had 
told  a  number  of  people  that  he  intended  sooner 
or  later  to  square  accounts  with  "that  fellow  from 
New  York." 

But  Jack's  father  was  not  on  hand  to  see  them 
ride  away,  and  so  without  giving  the  matter  much 
more  consideration  the  boys  had  the  driver  of 
the  automobile  head  towards  the  place  where  the 
encounter  between  Davenport  and  Dick  Rover 
had  taken  place. 

"My  gracious!  just  see  how  the  oil  wells  are 
coming  in,  will  you?"  cried  Fred,  while  they  were 
riding  along.  He  pointed  to  a  hillside  where  two 
new  wells  were  at  work.  "Those  weren't  here 
when  we  went  through  before." 

"It  looks  to  me  as  if  some  of  these  folks  were 
fairly  crazy  about  oil,"  remarked  Randy. 

"Well,  it's  a  terrible  temptation  to  get  busy 
when  you  think  that  under  your  very  feet  there 
may  be  thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars' 
worth  of  that  stuff,"  returned  Jack. 

"What  a  different  place  this  is  from  around 
Colby  Hall,"  commented  Fred. 

"Yes.  And  quite  different  from  Valley  Brook 
Farm,  too,"  added  Randy. 

"What's  the  matter  with  comparing  it  with 
Riverside  Drive?"  questioned  Andy,  with  a  grin. 
"Don't  you  see  the  Hudson  River  over  there  with 


CAUGHT  BY  THE  ENEMY  275 

the  stately  warships  ?"  and  as  he  spoke  he  pointed 
to  a  pond  of  water,  the  surface  of  which  was 
black  with  oil  and  on  which  floated  several  logs. 

"In  one  way  I  think  the  old  fellow  I  was  talk 
ing  with  last  night  was  right,"  declared  Jack.  "He 
said  that  the  oil  had  spoiled  the  whole  country. 
Just  look  around,  will  you  ?  Everything  is  black 
and  greasy  with  oil." 

"Well,  they  say  'dirty  work  makes  clean 
money/  "  cried  Randy.  "And  I  guess  a  lot  of 
these  men  don't  care  how  much  they  muss  up 
the  scenery  and  muss  up  themselves  so  long  as 
they  get  good  fat  bank  accounts  out  of  it." 

At  length  they  came  in  sight  of  the  Lorimer 
Spell  tract,  and  they  were  both  surprised  and  in 
terested  at  the  activity  being  displayed  there.  A 
gang  of  at  least  thirty  men  were  at  work,  some 
around  a  well  which  was  being  sunk  and  others  in 
erecting  several  buildings. 

"They  certainly  mean  business,"  remarked 
Jack,  as  they  came  to  a  halt  near  the  bank  of 
the  little  brook  which  flowed  through  one  of  the 
corners  of  the  property.  "You've  got  to  give 
them  credit — they  didn't  let  the  grass  grow  under 
their  feet." 

"I  wonder  if  they  are  using  their  own  money 
or  whether  they  got  some  outsiders  to  invest," 
mused  Fred. 


276    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Not  wishing  to  get  into  any  altercation  with 
the  workers,  the  Rovers  kept  at  a  distance.  They 
saw  Tate  and  Jackson  among  the  men.  Each  was 
giving  orders,  and  both  seemed  to  be  in  charge 
of  the  operations.  Carson  Davenport  was  not 
visible. 

One  small  building  was  already  complete,  and 
this  was  being  used  as  an  office.  The  door  stood 
open,  and  presently  a  young  fellow  came  out, 
lighting  a  cigarette  as  he  did  so. 

"Hello,  there  is  Nappy  Martell!"  exclaimed 
Andy. 

Martell  stood  leaning  against  the  corner  of  the 
building,  smoking  his  cigarette  and  gazing  idly 
at  the  workmen.  Then  he  chanced  to  glance 
around  and  caught  sight  of  the  Rovers.  He  at 
once  poked  his  head  back  into  the  building  and 
said  something  to  someone  inside. 

"He's  coming  this  way,"  announced  Fred. 

"Yes,  and  there  is  Slugger  Brown  behind  him," 
added  Randy. 

"They've  got  their  nerve  with  them,  after  the 
way  they  treated  us!"  growled  Jack. 

"What  do  you  fellows  want  around  here?"  de 
manded  Nappy  coolly,  as  he  came  closer. 

"I'll  bet  they  want  to  see  how  we  are  getting 
along,"  put  in  Slugger  Brown.  He  was  puffing 


CAUGHT  BY  THE  ENEMY  277 

away  at  a  briar-root  pipe,  trying  his  best  to  look 
mannish. 

"See  here,  you  fellows,  what  did  you  mean 
by  your  actions  the  night  you  got  us  to  walk  out 
to  that  storehouse?"  demanded  Jack. 

"That  wasn't  our  fault,"  broke  out  Nappy  hast 
ily.  "We  weren't  responsible  for  what  Gabe  Wer 
ner  did." 

"I  don't  believe  Gabe  was  in  it  at  all!"  cried 
Fred. 

"He  was  too.  He  got  us  to  go  after  you,  ex 
actly  as  I  told  you,"  protested  Nappy. 

"But  he  wasn't  there,"  said  Fred.  "And  it 
wasn't  a  boarding  house  either." 

"I  don't  care.  He  was  there  when  we  left  him 
to  find  you.  And  he  wanted  to  see  all  of  you 
the  worst  way."  Nappy  turned  to  Slugger. 
"Isn't  that  right,  Slug?" 

"It  certainly  is.  He  said  he  would  wait  there 
until  we  got  back.  In  fact,  he  said  his  leg  hurt 
him  so  he  couldn't  go  a  step  further,  and  he  said 
he  knew  the  old  folks  who  lived  there  very  well. 
We  didn't  know  anything  more  than  what  he  told 
us." 

"I  don't  believe  a  word  of  your  story,  Nappy. 
I  believe  it's  made  up  from  end  to  end,"  answered 
Jack.  "You  simply  had  your  orders  to  keep  us 
from  going  into  the  hotel,  and  you  carried  those 


278    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

orders  out  to  the  best  of  your  ability.  My  opin 
ion  is  you  were  in  league  with  those  men  who 
robbed  my  father  of  his  papers." 

"I  was  not.  I  don't  know  what  you're  talking 
about!"  roared  Nappy,  but  his  face  grew  pale  as 
he  spoke.  "I  didn't  even  know  your  father  had 
been  robbed.  Gabe  Werner  had  been  hurt.  We 
thought  his  leg  had  been  broken,  although  we 
found  out  afterwards  it  was  only  hurt.  He 
wanted  to  see  all  of  you — why,  I  don't  know.  We 
simply  tried  to  do  him  a  favor,  and  this  is  what 
we  get  for  it." 

"Nappy  is  telling  things  just  as  they  were," 
declared  Slugger. 

"It's  a  fairy  tale,"  declared  Andy.  "If  it  was 
true,  why  did  you  and  Nappy  hide  when  we  came 
up?" 

"Because  we  knew  you  would  be  mad  when 
you  got  there  and  found  that  Gabe  was  missing," 
answered  Slugger. 

"Where  is  Werner  now?" 

"I  don't  know.  I  think  he  has  gone  home — 
anyway,  he  said  something  about  going,"  was  the 
glib  reply. 

"What  are  you  fellows  doing  here?" 

"We  own  an  interest  in  this  claim,"  answered 
Nappy  loftily,  and  as  he  spoke  he  lit  a  fresh  ciga 
rette. 


CAUGHT  BY  THE  ENEMY  279 

"Own  an  interest  here?"  demanded  Jack  in 
pardonable  astonishment. 

"That's  it.  I  got  my  folks  to  buy  an  eighth 
interest  in  the  whole  outfit,  and  Slugger's  folks 
bought  an  equal  amount." 

"Must  have  cost  you  something,"  said  Fred. 

"It  cost  our  folks  ten  thousand  dollars  each," 
answered  Slugger,  in  a  bragging  tone.  "But  we'll 
get  that  back,  and  a  good  deal  more,  too,"  he 
added. 

"Did  Gabe  Werner's  folks  put  up  anything?" 
questioned  Randy. 

"Yes,  they  have  an  eighth  interest,  too,"  an 
swered  Nappy.  "Oh,  this  is  going  to  be  some 
big  concern,  believe  me." 

"What  about  it  if  my  father  gets  Sack  those 
papers  of  which  he  was  robbed?"  questioned  Jack 
pointedly. 

"Oh,  say,  Jack  Rover,  you  needn't  come  to  me 
with  that  old  yarn,"  growled  Slugger.  "We 
know  there  isn't  a  word  of  truth  in  it.  Your 
father  never  had  any  such  papers." 

"He  certainly  did  have  them,  and  some  day  he 
may  be  able  to  prove  it,"  answered  Jack  warmly. 
"On  the  very  night  that  you  fellows  got  us  to  go 
but  to  that  storehouse  he  was  knocked  down  in 
one  of  our  rooms  by  two  or  three  men  and  the 
papers  were  taken  from  him.  And  what  is  more, 


280    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

I  am  pretty  sure  in  my  mind  that  the  fellows  wlio 
took  them  were  Davenport  and  his  partners." 

"Then  you  mean  to  say  that  Mr.  Davenport  is 
a  thief?"  cried  Slugger,  looking  Jack  full  in  the 
face. 

"That's  what  I  firmly  believe." 

Jack  had  scarcely  uttered  the  words  when  lie 
felt  a  heavy  hand  placed  upon  his  shoulder.  He 
was  whirled  around,  to  find  himself  face  to  face 
with  the  oil  promoter. 

"So  that  is  the  way  you  are  talking  about  me, 
is  it?"  cried  Carson  Davenport,  in  a  rage.  "Call 
ing  me  a  thief,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing!  I 
reckon  I  have  an  account  to  settle  with  you,  and 
I'll  settle  it  right  now.  You  come  with  me." 

And  thus  speaking  he  grasped  Jack  by  the  arm 
and  dragged  him  across  the  field  to  where  his 
gang  of  men  were  at  work. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

AT   THE   FRANKLIN    PLACE 

CARSON  DAVENPORT'S  action  came  so  unex 
pectedly  that  for  the  instant  Jack  did  not  know 
what  to  do.  Then,  however,  he  tried  to  wrench 
himself  free  from  the  oil  well  promoter's  grasp. 

"You  let  go  of  me !"  he  cried.  "Let  go,  I  say !" 
And  then,  as  Davenport  continued  to  hold  him, 
he  struck  the  man  on  the  chest. 

"Ha !  you're  the  same  kind  of  a  spitfire  as  your 
father,  are  you?"  bellowed  Davenport.  And  in 
a  greater  rage  than  ever  he  let  go  of  Jack  and 
hit  him  a  stinging  blow  on  the  side  of  the  face. 

"Hi!  Stop  that!  How  dare  you?"  yelled 
Randy,  and  sprang  forward  to  Jack's  assistance. 
But  before  he  could  reach  his  cousin  Jack  had 
hauled  off  and  hit  Davenport  a  blow  in  the  cheek. 

By  this  time  all  of  the  Rovers  were  advancing- 
upon  Davenport,  and  the  oil  well  promoter  thought 
it  the  best  policy  to  fall  back. 

"Come  on,  Nappy !  Let's  get  into  this !"  cried 
SSlugger,  and,  rushing  forward,  he  caught  Randy 

281 


282    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

by  the  shoulder.  "You  let  them  have  it  out 
alone !"  he  ordered. 

"This  isn't  your  fight,  Slugger,  and  you  had 
better  keep  out  of  it,"  retorted  Randy.  And 
then,  as  Slugger  still  tried  to  hold  him  back, 
Randy  put  out  his  foot,  gave  the  bully  a  shove, 
and  Slugger  measured  his  length  on  his  back. 

In  the  meanwhile  Nappy  had  also  sprung  for 
ward.  He  tried  to  get  at  Jack,  but  Andy  and 
Fred  got  in  the  way,  and  though  Nappy  struck 
out  several  times,  hitting  both  of  the  Rovers  on 
the  arm,  they  retaliated  with  a  stinging  crack  in 
the  ear  and  another  on  the  nose  which  caused  the 
blood  to  flow  freely  and  made  Nappy  retire  to  a 
safe  distance. 

By  this  time  the  all-around  fight  had  attracted 
the  attention  of  a  number  of  the  workmen,  and 
they  came  rushing  up  to  find  out  what  it  was  all 
about.  The  driver  of  the  automobile,  who  had, 
remained  in  the  car,  also  came  forward. 

"I'll  fix  you,  you  young  whelp !"  roared  Daven 
port,  as  he  came  again  toward  Jack. 

"You  leave  me  alone,"  returned  Jack.  "Don't 
you  dare  put  your  hands  on  me  again !" 

"Here,  what's  the  rumpus?"  demanded  the 
driver  of  the  automobile,  a  fellow  named  George 
Rogers. 

The  boys  started  to  explain,  not  only  for  the 


JACK  WAS  WHIRLED  AROUND  AND  FACED  THE  OIL  PROMOTER. 
The  Rover  Boys  in  the  Land  of  Luck,  Page  280 


rAT  THE  FRANKLIN  PLACE  283 

"benefit  of  Rogers,  but  also  for  the  benefit  of  the 
workmen  who  were  coming  up. 

"That  whole  bunch  ought  to  be  arrested!" 
blustered  Slugger. 

"That's  what  I  say!"  added  Nappy,  with  his 
handkerchief  to  his  bleeding  nose. 

"That  man  started  it,"  declared  Jack,  pointing 
to  Davenport.  "He  caught  hold  of  me,  and  I 
told  him  to  let  me  go.  He  had  no  right  to  put 
his  hands  on  me." 

After  this  there  was  a  war  of  words  in  which 
Tate  and  Jackson,  who  had  come  up,  joined.  The 
oil  well  promoters  were  all  anxious  to  do  some 
thing  to  the  Rover  boys,  and  in  this  they  were  sec 
onded  by  Nappy  and  Slugger.  But,  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  hardly  any  of  the  workmen  took  kindly 
to  this. 

"Oh,  they're  only  a  bunch  of  kids,"  said  one 
of  the  men.  "What's  the  use  of  bothering  with 
them?" 

"That  man  is  mad  at  me  because  my  father 
knocked  him  down  twice  the  other  day,"  de 
clared  Jack,  turning  to  the  workmen.  "And  he 
knows  why  he  was  knocked  down,"  he  added  sig 
nificantly. 

"Was  it  your  dad  who  did  that?"  questioned 
one  of  the  men  in  the  rear  of  the  crowd. 

"It  was.     This  farm  was  left  to  my  father  by 


284    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Lorimer  Spell  because  my  father  saved  Spell's 
life  on  a  battlefield  in  France.  My  father  had  a 
lot  of  papers  to  prove  his  claim,  but  the  papers 
were  stolen  from  him." 

"I  heard  something  about  that,"  said  another 
of  the  workmen. 

"See  here !  if  you  fellows  are  going  to  believe 
such  a  story  as  these  kids  are  giving  you,  you 
can't  work  for  me!"  roared  Carson  Davenport, 
with  a  scowl. 

"I  don't  have  to  work  for  you  if  I  don't  want 
to,"  answered  one  of  the  workmen  quickly  and 
with  a  scowl. 

"See  here,  Carson  Davenport,  you  let  me  have  a 
word  or  two  to  say!"  broke  in  George  Rogers. 
"I  know  you  just  about  as  well  as  anybody  here. 
You  are  the  fellow  who  sold  stock  in  the  Yellow; 
Pansy  Extension,  something  that  I  and  a  whole 
lot  of  others  got  bit  on  badly.  Maybe  you'd  like 
me  to  rake  up  that  little  deal  in  the  courts  for 
you." 

"Rats !  You  don't  have  to  dig  up  ancient  his 
tory,  Rogers!"  growled  Davenport;  but  it  was 
easy  to  see  that  the  other's  words  disturbed  him 
not  a  little. 

"I'll  dig  it  up  good  and  plenty  if  you  don't 
leave  these  boys  alone !  I  don't  know  much  about; 
'em,  but  they  seem  to  be  perfectly  straightfor- 


AT  THE  FRANKLIN  PLACE  285 

ward,  and  their  father  is  as  nice  a  man  as  I  ever 
met." 

More  words  followed,  Davenport,  as  well  as 
Tate  and  Jackson,  doing  a  lot  of  grumbling. 
Once  or  twice  Slugger  and  Nappy  tried  to  take 
part,  but  some  of  the  workmen  cut  them  short, 
and  in  the  end  one  crowd  moved  toward  the  auto 
mobile  while  the  other  headed  in  the  opposite 
direction. 

"Well,  that's  the  time  matters  got  pretty  hot," 
was  Andy's  comment. 

"Gee !  one  time  I  thought  we'd  all  be  at  it  tooth 
and  nail,"  declared  Fred. 

"In  my  opinion  that  fellow  Davenport  is  noth 
ing  but  a  skunk,"  declared  George  Rogers.  "I've. 
known  him  for  years.  He  has  been  in  half  a 
dozen  oil-well  propositions,  selling  stocks  and 
leases.  One  time  he  caught  three  young  fellows 
from  Chicago  and  sold  them  a  lease  for  several 
thousand  dollars  that  wasn't  worth  a  pinch  of 
snuff.  Then  he  started  what  he  called  the  Yellow 
Pansy  Extension.  The  regular  Yellow  Pansy  was 
doing  very  well — hitting  it  up  for  about  eight  hun 
dred  barrels  a  day — and  of  course  lots  of  people, 
including  myself,  thought  that  the' Extension  be 
longed  to  the  same  crowd.  But  it  didn't,  and 
the  lease  was  absolutely  worthless;  so  that  all 
of  the  buyers  of  stock  got  stung.  I  myself  was 


286    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

hung  up  for  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  almost  all 
the  cash  I  had  at  that  time." 

"Why  didn't  they  put  Davenport  and  his  part 
ners  in  prison?"  asked  Fred. 

"Because  he  is  one  of  those  slick  fellows  who 
can  worm  out  of  almost  anything.  One  or  two 
fellows  did  make  some  sort  of  charges  against 
him,  but  they  all  fell  through.  There  are  hun 
dreds  of  swindlers  in  the  oil  business,  and  not 
one  out  of  a  dozen  is  ever  caught." 

"If  Uncle  Dick  makes  up  his  mind  to  go  ahead 
on  the  Franklin  farm  I  think  I  know  a  way  of 
helping  him,"  said  Andy,  with  a  grin. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do,  Andy?  Take  off 
your  coat,  roll  up  your  sleeves,  and  grab  a  pick 
and  shovel?"  questioned  his  twin. 

"Not  exactly,  although  I  might  want  to  do 
that  later  on.  But  I  was  thinking  that  a  good 
many  of  those  workmen  didn't  seem  to  be  satis 
fied  with  their  job.  Maybe  they  would  be  only 
too  glad  to  shift." 

Although  they  hated  to  do  so,  the  boys  felt  it 
was  their  duty  to  tell  the  particulars  of  what 
had  occurred  to  Jack's  father  as  soon  as  they 
saw  him. 

"It's  too  bad  you  got  into  another  mix-up  with 
that  rascal,  as  well  as  with  Martell  and  Brown," 
said  Dick  Rover.  "After  this  I  think  you  had 


AT  THE  FRANKLIN  PLACE  287 

better  stay  away  from  that  locality.  We'll  let 
them  go  ahead  and  sink  all  the  money  they  care 
to." 

Jack's  father  had  been  making  some  inquiries, 
and  he  learned  that  it  was  true  that  the  Martells, 
the  Browns,  and  Mr.  Werner  had  contributed 
thirty  thousand  dollars  towards  driving  two  wells 
on  the  Spell  claim.  To  this  amount  of  money 
Davenport,  Tate  and  Jackson  had  contributed  an 
other  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

"Fifty  thousand  dollars !"  exclaimed  Jack,  when 
he  heard  of  this.  "That  certainly  is  quite  a  sum 
of  money." 

"It  costs  money  to  bore  for  oil  in  these  parts," 
answered  his  father. 

As  he  had  promised,  Mr.  Fitch  came  to  Dick 
Rover  on  the  following  Monday  with  his  report 
concerning  the  Franklin  farm. 

"I  think  you  have  found  something  well  worth 
trying,  Mr.  Rover,"  said  he.  "There  are  indi 
cations  of  oil  in  half  a  dozen  places,  and  two  of 
the  spots  to  me  look  particularly  inviting." 

Then  he  went  into  many  details  and  brought 
in  one  of  his  assistants  to  verify  some  of  the 
statements.  Dick  Rover  listened  carefully  to  all 
that  was  said,  and  then  leaned  back  in  his  chair 
and  looked  at  the  oil  expert  sharply. 

"Then   on  the  strength  of  this  report,   Mr. 


288  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

Fitch,  you  would  advise  my  sinking  at  least  two 
wells?" 

"I  certainly  would,  Mr.  Rover.  That  is,  of 
course,  if  you  can  afford  to  take  the  gamble.  I'm 
almost  certain  that  the  oil  is  there,  but  you  must 
remember  that  even  the  best  of  us  are  sometimes 
deceived.  However,  I  will  say  this — I  am  not  a 
particularly  rich  man,  but  if  you  sink  these  two 
wells  in  the  spots  that  I  have  picked  out  and  you 
form  a  company  at,  say,  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  for  that  purpose,  I  am  willing  to  put  up 
five  thousand  dollars  in  cash  for  some  of  the 
stock." 

"That  certainly  sounds  as  if  you  had  faith  in 
it,"  answered  Dick  Rover,  with  a  smile.  "Are 
you  willing  to  put  that  in  writing  ?" 

"I  am,  sir,"  and  Mr.  Fitch's  face  showed  that 
he  meant  what  he  said. 

"Very  well,  then,  you  do  so,  and  I'll  start  opera 
tions  to-morrow." 

As  soon  as  it  was  definitely  settled  that  Mr. 
Rover  would  go  ahead  and  sink  the  two  wells, 
the  boys  hurried  over  to  see  Phil  Franklin.  They 
found  the  lad  all  smiles. 

"It's  the  best  news  I  ever  heard,"  said  Phil,  his 
eyes  gleaming  with  pleasure.  "Now,  dad  and  I 
will  have  a  chance  of  making  some  real  money." 
For  it  had  now  been  settled  that  John  Franklin 


'AT  THE  FRANKLIN  PLACE  289 

was  to  have  an  eighth  interest  in  the  new  com 
pany  to  be  formed. 

"I'm  awfully  glad  my  dad  is  going  ahead  on 
your  farm,"  answered  Jack.  "And  I  hope  for 
your  sake  as  well  as  our  own  that  the  wells  prove 
regular  gushers." 

"That  Mr.  Fitch  was  very  hopeful,"  answered 
Phil.  "And  my  father  says  he's  one  of  the  best 
oil  experts  to  be  found  anywhere.  He's  an  old 
hand  at  the  game." 

That  week  and  the  week  following  proved  to 
be  tremendously  busy  ones  for  Dick  Rover.  In 
conference  with  Nick  Ogilvie  and  several  others, 
all  the  work  preliminary  to  the  sinking  of  the  two 
wells  was  gotten  under  way,  and  deals  were  closed 
for  nearly  all  the  necessary  machinery,  and  also 
for  a  quantity  of  lumber  to  be  used  in  the  con 
struction  of  several  buildings. 

"We're  going  to  stay  right  in  our  house,"  said 
Phil  to  the  other  boys.  "We  sha'n't  get  out  until 
the  flow  of  oil  compels  us  to." 

"Well,  I  hope  the  oil  comes  so  fast  it  floats  the 
old  shack  away,"  grinned  Andy. 

It  soon  became  noised  around  that  The  Rover 
Oil  Company  had  been  formed  to  exploit  the 
Franklin  farm.  In  the  meanwhile  Nick  Ogilvie 
and  his  assistants  were  hustling  as  much  as  pos 
sible  to  obtain  the  needed  workmen.  They  man- 


290  THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

aged  to  get  together  a  gang  of  fifteen,  but  then 
there  came  a  halt. 

"They  are  hitting  it  up  for  oil  over  the  line  in 
Oklahoma,"  declared  Ogilvie,  "and  that  has  taken 
away  a  good  many  of  our  workmen." 

"Better  go  to  Wichita  Falls  and  see  what  you 
can  do,"  suggested  Dick  Rover. 

The  next  day  Jack  and  Andy,  while  riding  in 
George  Rogers'  automobile,  ran  across  three  of 
the  men  employed  by  Davenport.  These  men  had 
had  a  quarrel  with  Tate,  and  were  on  the  point 
of  leaving  their  job.  They  listened  with  interest 
to  what  the  boys  had  to  say  about  the  Franklin 
place. 

"If  they  want  men  I  think  I'll  go  over  and  see 
about  it,"  said  one  of  the  workmen. 

"So  will  I,"  came  from  another;  and  the  third 
nodded  to  show  that  he  agreed. 

As  a  result  of  this  interview  the  three  men 
called  on  Nick  Ogilvie  and  were  speedily  engaged. 
They  told  some  of  their  friends;  and  before  the 
week  was  up  six  of  Carson  Davenport's  best  work 
ers  had  left  the  Spell  claim  and  had  signed  up  to 
work  on  the  Franklin  farm. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

DAYS     OF    ANXIETY 

"I  WONDER  what  Davenport  will  say  when  he 
finds  those  men  are  working  here?"  remarked 
Fred. 

"I  don't  care  what  he  says,"  answered  Jack. 

"Do  you  think  he'll  dare  come  over  here  and 
have  it  out  with  Uncle  Dick?"  questioned  Andy. 

"I  don't  think  so,"  answered  his  brother.  "I 
believe  behind  it  all  he  is  afraid  we'll  have  him 
arrested  for  the  theft  of  those  documents." 

"If  he  really  took  them,  what  do  you  think  he 
did  with  them  ?"  came  from  Fred. 

"More  than  likely  he  destroyed  them,"  an 
swered  Jack.  "He  wouldn't  want  evidence  like 
that  lying  around  loose,  you  know." 

When  Carson  Davenport  learned  that  six  of 
his  men  had  deserted  and  gone  over  to  the  Rov 
ers  he  was  more  angry  than  ever. 

"They're  going  to  do  their  best  to  undermine 
us,"  he  said  to  Tate.  "I  wish  I  knew  just  how  to 
get  square  with  them." 

291 


392    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

"We'll  get  square  enough  if  we  strike  oil 
here,"  said  Tate.  "Those  Rovers  will  feel  sick 
enough  if  they  learn  we  are  making  a  barrel  of 
money." 

"It's  easy  enough  to  talk  about  making  a  bar 
rel  of  money,"  came  from  Jackson,  who  was 
present.  "But  I  don't  see  the  money  flowing  in 
very  fast."  He  had  been  talking  to  a  number 
of  his  friends,  and  many  of  them  had  said  they 
thought  the  chances  of  getting  oil  from  the  Spell 
claim  were  very  slim. 

"Oh,  you  just  hold  your  horses,  Jackson,"  said 
Carson  Davenport  smoothly.  "Take  my  word  for 
it,  this  well  we  are  putting  down  is  going  to  be 
one  of  the  biggest  in  this  territory." 

But  though  he  spoke  thus,  Davenport  did  not 
believe  what  he  said.  He,  too,  was  becoming  sus 
picious  that  they  might  be  drilling  a  well  which 
would  prove  dry.  However,  he  had  the  traits  of 
a  gambler,  and  was  willing  to  go  ahead  so  long  as 
there  was  the  least  possibility  of  success. 

As  the  days  slipped  by  the  work  on  both  claims 
progressed  rapidly.  Nick  Ogilvie  managed  to 
hire  a  few  men  in  and  around  Wichita  Falls,  and 
Davenport  also  picked  up  some  workers  to  take 
the  places  of  those  who  had  deserted  him. 

In  those  days  the  Rover  boys  became  almost  as 
enthusiastic  as  Jack's  father,  and  their  enthusi- 


DAYS  OF  ANXIETY 


293 


asm  increased  when  Tom  Rover  and  Sam  Rover 
took  a  run  down  from  New  York  to  see  how 
matters  were  progressing. 

"It  certainly  is  a  gamble — this  boring  for  oil," 
remarked  Sam  Rover. 

"But  it  looks  like  a  good  gamble  to  me,"  an 
swered  his  brother  Tom.  "And  I  like  the  way 
that  man  Fitch  talks."  He  had  had  an  interview 
with  the  oil  expert  which  had  pleased  him  greatly. 
On  one  occasion  the  Rover  boys  rode  over  from 
Pottown  to  Columbina.  There,  at  the  shooting 
gallery  they  had  visited  before,  they  ran  most  un 
expectedly,  not  only  into  Nappy  and  Slugger,  but 
also  Gabe  Werner.  At  the  sight  of  them  Werner 
tried  to  get  out  of  the  gallery  by  the  back  way, 
but  was  stopped  by  the  proprietor. 

"You  haven't  settled  with  me  yet,"  said  the 
shooting-gallery  man. 

"Oh,  that's  all  right.  Take  it  out  of  this," 
growled  Werner,  and  threw  down  a  dollar  bill. 
Then  he  tried  to  pass  out  again,  but  before  he 
could  do  so  Randy  and  Fred  caught  and  held  the 
rascal. 

Cornered,  Gabe  Werner  tried  to  put  up  a  fight, 
and  in  this  he  got  by  far  the  worst  of  it.  He 
managed  to  get  in  one  or  two  blows,  but  then, 
Randy  knocked  him  down,  and  when  he  arose  to 
his  feet  Fred  landed  on  his  ear  so  that  the  bully 


294    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

spun  around  and  lurched  heavily  against  the; 
counter  on  which  rested  a  number  of  guns. 

"You  let  me  alone !"  roared  Werner.  And  then 
he  suddenly  caught  up  one  of  the  guns  and  made 
a  move  as  though  to  aim  it  at  the  Rovers.  But 
the  keeper  of  the  shooting  gallery  was  too  quick 
for  him,  and  wrested  the  weapon  from  the  big 
youth's  grasp. 

And  then  Gabe  Werner  did  catch  it.  Not  only 
did  Randy  and  Fred  pounce  upon  him,  but  also 
Jack  and  Andy,  and  as  a  consequence,  bruised 
and  bleeding,  the  big  bully  staggered  from  the 
shooting  gallery  and  set  off  down  the  muddy  street 
at  the  best  speed  he  could  command. 

"There!  I  guess  we've  settled  him  for  a 
while,"  panted  Randy,  when  the  encounter  was 
over.  "Hello!  where  are  Nappy  and  Slugger?" 

"They  slid  out  while  we  were  taking  care  of 
Gabe,"  answered  Andy.  "I  guess  they  thought 
things  were  getting  too  warm."  And  in  that  sur 
mise  the  fun-loving  Rover  was  correct.  Dis 
mayed  by  the  beating  Werner  was  receiving, 
Nappy  and  Slugger  had  lost  no  time  in  departing 
for  parts  unknown.  It  was  a  long  time  before 
the  Rovers  saw  them  again. 

A  few  days  later  came  word  from  the  Spell 
claim  that  filled  the  Rovers  with  astonishment 
mingled  somewhat  with  dismay.  Oil  had  been 


DAYS  OF  ANXIETY  295 

reported,  and  every  one  connected  with  the  Dav 
enport  outfit  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  well 
when  shot  off  would  open  up  big. 

"Gee!  suppose  they  do  strike  it  rich?"  cried 
Fred. 

"I  don't  think  they  will — not  after  what  the 
experts  said,"  answered  Jack. 

"But  even  Mr.  Fitch  said  they  sometimes  made 
mistakes,"  put  in  Randy. 

A  few  days  later  the  well  on  the  Spell  claim 
was  shot  off,  and  this  was  followed  by  a  flow  of 
oil  amounting  to  forty  or  fifty  barrels  a  day. 
Then  it  was  announced  that  the  Davenport  crowd 
was  going  to  sink  the  well  several  hundred  feet 
deeper  and  they  were  also  going  to  put  down 
another  well  farther  up  the  brook. 

"I  reckon  that  flow  of  oil  has  got  'em  a-go 
ing,"  remarked  Nick  Ogilvie,  and  there  was  just 
a  trace  of  envy  in  his  tones.  "Well,  that's  the 
luck  of  it.  You  can't  tell  anything  about  it,"  and 
he  shook  his  head  wonderingly  as  he  went  about 
his  duties. 

So  far,  there  had  been  no  indications  of  oil  at 
the  first  well  which  the  Rovers  were  boring.  But 
Mr.  Fitch  had  told  Jack's  father  not  to  expect  too 
much  until  a  depth  of  at  least  twenty-five  hun 
dred  feet  was  reached. 

It  made  the  boys  feel  a  little  blue  to  think  that 


2g6    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

the  Davenport  crowd  had  been  the  first  to  strike 
oil. 

"Won't  Nappy  and  Slugger  crow  over  this— 
especially  as  their  folks  have  an  interest  in  the 
well?"  remarked  Jack. 

But  the  next  day  something  happened  which 
made  Jack  forget  all  his  troubles  for  the  time 
being.  A  telegram  came  in  from  his  sister  Mar 
tha,  reading  as  follows : 

"Ruth's  eyes  operated  on  yesterday.  Very  suc 
cessful.  Expert  says  she  will  see  perfectly." 

"Isn't  this  grand!"  cried  Jack,  his  whole  face 
beaming  with  pleasure.  "I  declare,  this  is  the  best 
news  yet!" 

"I  don't  blame  you  for  being  pleased,  Jack," 
answered  Randy.  "I'll  wager  the  Stevensons  fed 
relieved." 

The  telegram  was  followed  by  a  letter  which 
gave  many  details.  But  the  main  feature  was 
that  the  operation  had  been  entirely  successful 
and  that  the  surgeon  in  charge  had  said  positively 
that  Ruth's  eyes  would  soon  be  as  well  and  as 
strong  as  they  had  ever  been. 

"I  am  going  to  send  her  a  telegram  of  con 
gratulation,"  declared  Jack.  "Even  if  she  can't 
read  it  herself,  they  can  read  it  to  her,"  and  he 


DAYS  OF  ANXIETY  297 

turned  off  to  the  telegraph  station  for  that  pur 
pose. 

After  that  the  boys  waited  anxiously  for  some 
sort  of  development  at  the  Franklin  farm.  Tom 
Rover  and  his  brother  Sam  had  returned  to  New 
York,  and  they  had  wanted  the  boys  to  go  with 
them,  but  all  had  pleaded  that  they  be  allowed  to 
remain  in  Texas. 

"We  want  to  see  the  wells  shot  off  and  want  to 
see  the  oil  flow — that  is,  provided  it  does  flow," 
said  Randy. 

"We  might  as  well  put  in  our  vacation  here  as 
anywhere,"  put  in  Fred.  And  so  the  four  lads 
were  allowed  to  remain. 

Of  course,  the  Franklins  were  as  anxious  as 
any  one  to  see  how  matters  would  turn  out. 
Father  and  son  were  working  for  the  company 
and  doing  their  best  to  hurry  matters  along.  Dick 
Rover  was  also  on  hand  daily,  consulting  with 
Ogilvie  and  his  assistants  to  make  sure  that  every 
thing  was  going  right. 

"These  two  wells  are  going  to  cost  us  about 
seventy  thousand  dollars,"  Jack's  father  confided 
to  him.  "It's  a  mint  of  money,  isn't  it?"  and  he 
smiled  slightly. 

"It  certainly  is,  Dad.  Especially  if  the  wells 
Sdon't  pan  out." 

<fWell,  we've  got  to  take  what  comes.     You 


298    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF 

must  remember  this  is  the  land  of  luck — good  ott 
bad." 

At  last  Ogilvie  announced  that  they  were  get 
ting  to  the  point  where  the  first  well  would  soon 
be  shot  off.  There  were  some  indications  of  oil, 
although  not  as  strong  as  Mr.  Fitch  had  hoped. 
The  oil  expert  had  put  up  his  five  thousand  dol 
lars  in  the  company  which  had  been  formed,  so 
he  was  almost  as  anxious  as  those  who  had  larger 
sums  invested. 

"Here's  news  for  you !"  shouted  Andy,  bursting 
in  on  the  others  the  next  noon.  "What  do  you 
know  about  this  ?  Say,  I  guess  those  fellows  are 
going  to  catch  it  all  right  enough !"  and  he  began 
to  dance  around  the  floor. 

"What  are  you  talking  about,  Andy?"  de 
manded  his  brother. 

"They  say  the  well  on  the  Lorimer  Spell  claim 
has  run  dry!" 

"Run  dry!"  came  from  the  others. 

"Yes,  run  dry — or  next  door  to  it !  They  got 
only  fifteen  barrels  the  day  before  yesterday,  and 
yesterday  they  got  not  more  than  three." 

"You  don't  mean  it!"  exclaimed  Jack.  "Whof 
told  you  this?" 

"One  of  the  men  who  worked  there.  Carson 
Davenport  was  so  mad  that  when  the  man  said 
something  to  him  about  it  he  fired  him.  The  man 


DAYS  OF  ANXIETY  299 

said  he  was  coming  over  here  to  look  for  a  job — 
that  he  was  sure  the  whole  thing  was  petering 
out." 

The  news  soon  circulated,  and  Dick  Rover  was 
so  interested  that  he  went  off  the  next  day  to 
Columbina  to  ascertain  the  truth. 

"It's  so,  all  right  enough,"  he  said,  on  return 
ing.  "They  didn't  get  more  than  a  barrel  or  sq 
to-day.  It  has  certainly  gone  back  on  them.  Of 
course,  they  can  bore  the  well  deeper.  But  I 
guess  Mr.  Fitch  was  right.  He  said  that  there 
was  more  or  less  surface  oil — that  they  hadn't 
tapped  any  real  vein  or  pocket." 

The  day  before  the  first  of  the  wells  on  the 
Franklin  farm  was  to  be  shot  off  the  Rover  boys 
went  to  Columbina  on  an  errand  to  one  of  the 
stores.  Just  as  they  were  coming  out  of  this 
establishment  they  saw  an  automobile  dash 
through  the  mud  on  the  way  to  the  railroad  sta 
tion.  Behind  it  came  another  automobile  filled 
with  a  number  of  men,  all  yelling  wildly  for  those 
in  the  first  automobile  to  stop. 

"Hello,  something  is  going  on!"  exclaimed 
Jack. 

"Let's  go  after  them  and  see  what's  doing," 
suggested  Fred. 

The  others  were  willing,  and  all  set  off  on  a 
run  down  the  main  thoroughfare  of  the  town. 


goo    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

!As  they  ran  they  heard  the  distant  whistle  of  a 
locomotive. 

"I  guess  the  crowd  in  the  first  auto  want  to 
catch  that  three-o'clock  express/'  remarked  Fred. 

"Yes,  and  evidently  the  second  crowd  want  to 
istop  them,"  returned  Andy. 

The  excitement  had  attracted  the  attention  of 
a  number  of  people,  and  a  crowd  of  a  dozen  or 
more  followed  the  boys  to  the  railroad  station, 
all  wondering  what  was  the  matter. 

As  soon  as  the  first  automobile  reached  the  rail 
road  platform  a  man  sprang  from  the  car,  hold 
ing  a  Gladstone  bag  in  one  hand  and  a  suitcase  in 
the  other.  He  looked  back,  and  then  made  a  wild 
dash  for  the  train,  which  was  just  rolling  into  the 
station. 

"Look!  It's  Carson  Davenport!"  exclaimed 
Jack. 

"And  see  who  are  after  him — Tate,  Jackson 
and  three  or  four  other  men!" 

"Stop,  Davenport!"  yelled  one  of  the  men. 
"Stop  or  I'll  shoot !"  and  he  flourished  a  revolver,, 
and  another  man  in  the  crowd  did  the  same. 
Then  the  bunch  jumped  from  the  second  auto 
mobile  and  dashed  pell-mell  toward  the  train. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

THE     NEW     WELL — CONCLUSION 

CARSON  DAVENPORT  was  halfway  up  the  steps 
of  the  car  when  Jake  Tate  and  another  man 
hauled  him  backward  to  the  station  platform. 

"They've  got  him !"  exclaimed  Jack,  as  he  and 
his  cousins,  along  with  the  rest  of  the  gathering 
crowd,  came  closer. 

"Hi !  Hi !  Let  me  alone !"  yelled  Davenport, 
"Don't  shoot !  What  is  the  meaning  of  this,  any 
way?" 

"You  know  well  enough  what  it  means!"  bel 
lowed  Tate,  still  clutching  him  by  the  arm.  "You 
come  back  here.  You  are  not  going  to  take  that 
train  or  any  other  just  yet." 

"And  you're  not  going  to  carry  off  that  bag, 
either,"  put  in  Jackson,  as  he  wrenched  the  Glad 
stone  away. 

By  this  time  the  crowd  completely  surrounded 
Carson  Davenport,  and  the  pistols  which  had 
been  drawn  were  speedily  thrust  out  of  sight. 
The  oil  well  promoter  was  pushed  in  the  direction 

301 


302    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

of  the  little  railroad  station,  and  in  the  midst  of 
this  excitement  the  train  pulled  out. 

"What's  the  rumpus  about,  anyway?"  ex 
claimed  one  man  in  the  crowd. 

"Never  mind  what  it's  about,"  broke  in  Tate 
hastily.  "This  is  our  affair." 

"That's  right — maybe  we  had  better  keep  it  to 
ourselves,"  muttered  Jackson. 

"I  don't  believe  in  shielding  him,"  cried  one 
man  who  had  chased  Davenport  and  who  wore 
several  soldier's  medals  on  his  vest.  "He's  a 
swindler,  and  it's  best  everybody  knew  it.  He 
was  on  the  point  of  lighting  out  for  parts  un 
known  with  all  the  money  that  was  put  into  his 
oil  wells  up  on  the  Spell  ranch." 

"Is  that  right?"  burst  out  another  man. 

"It  is.  And  Tate  and  Jackson  know  it  as  well 
as  I  do.  I  guess  Davenport  came  to  the  conclu 
sion  that  those  wells  he  was  putting  down  were 
no  good,  and  rather  than  sink  any  more  money 
into  them  he  was  going  to  run  off  with  it." 

"I  wasn't  running  off  with  anything,"  declared 
Carson  Davenport.  "I  was  going  to  put  the 
money  into  the  bank  at  Wichita  Falls.  I  had  a 
perfect  right  to  do  that,"  and  as  he  spoke  he 
glared  at  Tate  and  Jackson. 

"Say,  if  you're  going  to  talk  that  way,  I  won't 
stand  in  with  you  any  longer !"  cried  Jackson,  in 


THE  NEW  WELL-CONCLUSION  303 

a  rage.  "That  money  is  going  to  stay  right  here, 
where  I  and  all  the  rest  of  us  can  keep  our  eyes 
on  it!" 

"That's  right — don't  let  him  get  away  with  a 
dollar  of  it !"  burst  out  another  man  in  the  crowd. 

"We'd  better  examine  this  bag  first  and  make 
sure  that  we've  got  what  we  came  after,"  de 
clared  the  man  who  wore  the  medals  on  his  vest. 

Davenport  tried  to  demur,  but  none  of  the  crowd 
would  listen  to  him.  Although  the  Gladstone 
bag  was  locked,  the  oil  well  promoter  was  com 
pelled  to  give  up  the  key,  and  then  the  others 
looked  over  the  contents  of  the  bag. 

"Twenty-six  thousand  dollars  here,"  announced 
Tate,  as  he  counted  the  money  in  the  presence  of 
the  others. 

"What's  this  package  ?"  demanded  the  man  who 
wore  the  medals.  "Hello!  Look  here!"  he  ex 
claimed  an  instant  later,  after  he  had  glanced  at 
one  of  several  documents  held  together  by  a  rub 
ber  band. 

"What  have  you  got?"  questioned  Tate  curi 
ously. 

"You  let  those  alone !"  bellowed  Davenport,  his 
face  turning  pale.  "Give  them  to  me !  They  are 
my  private  property!"  and  he  endeavored  to 
snatch  the  documents  from  the  other  man's  hand. 

"Not   much!"    answered  the  man  with   the 


304    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

medals,  Corporal  John  Dunning,  who  had  served 
over  a  year  in  France.  "These  papers  belong  to 
Mr.  Richard  Rover,  and  he  is  the  one  who  is  go 
ing  to  get  them." 

"Richard  Rover!"  burst  out  Jack,  who  was 
close  enough  to  catch  the  words.  "Why,  that's 
my  father!" 

"I  tell  you  I  want  those  papers!  They  are 
mine!"  screamed  Carson  Davenport,  and  now  he 
made  another  struggle  to  get  them. 

In  the  melee  which  followed  Corporal  Dun 
ning  was  hit  by  the  oil  well  promoter,  who  in 
return  received  a  blow  full  in  the  mouth  which 
loosened  several  of  his  teeth. 

"If  those  are  my  father's  papers  they  must  be 
the  same  that  were  stolen  from  him  while  we 
were  stopping  at  a  hotel  here,"  said  Jack.  "Sev 
eral  men  entered  one  of  our  rooms  and  my  father 
was  knocked  down  from  behind,  and  while  he 
was  unconscious  the  men  took  the  papers  and  ran 
away.  They  were  papers  relating  to  the  Lorimer 
Spell  claim." 

"Then  tell  your  father  that  Corporal  John  Dun 
ning,  who  is  stopping  at  O'Brian's  Hotel,  has 
them  and  will  give  them  up  to  him  just  as  soon 
as  he  can  prove  his  property,"  said  the  ex-soldier, 
as  he  placed  the  documents  in  an  inside  pocket. 

By  this  time  two  under-sheriffs  had  arrived  on 


THE  NEW  WELL— CONCLUSION  305 

the  scene,  and  they  were  wanting  to  knovr  if 
their  services  were  required.  Tate,  Jackson,  and 
one  or  two  others,  for  purely  personal  reasons, 
were  in  favor  of  hushing  the  matter  up,  but  not 
so  Corporal  Dunning  or  the  Rover  boys. 

"If  he  is  the  man  who  knocked  my  father  down 
and  robbed  him,  I  want  him  arrested,"  declared 
Jack. 

"He  ought  to  be  arrested  if  he  did  anything 
like  that,"  acquiesced  Dunning.  "I'm  through 
with  him!  No  more  work  for  me  at  his  place!" 

"If  you  want  another  job  I  guess  my  father's 
foreman,  Nick  Ogilvie,  will  be  glad  to  take  you 
on,"  answered  Jack  quickly.  "You  know,  my  dad 
is  an  ex-service  man,  too.  And  so  are  my  cous 
ins'  fathers,"  he  added,  motioning  to  the  other 
boys. 

Carson  Davenport  blustered  and  tried  to  pro 
test,  and  so  did  Tate  and  Jackson.  But  it  was 
all  of  no  avail,  and  in  the  end  the  oil  well  pro 
moter  was  marched  off  by  the  under-sheriffs  to  the 
local  lockup.  Then  Tate  and  Jackson  hurried 
away,  looking  anything  but  pleased. 

"If  he's  exposed,  he'll  expose  us  too,"  said 
Tate  sourly. 

"Right  you  are,  Jake,"  answered  Jackson. 
"Maybe  we'd  better  clear  out." 

And  they  did,  the  next  day.    They  tried  to  get 


306    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

hold  of  some  of  the  funds  of  the  oil  company,  but 
Dunning  and  others  were  on  guard,  so  this  little 
plan  was  frustrated. 

Of  course  Dick  Rover  was  astonished  when  the 
boys  burst  in  on  him  with  their  story.  He  quickly 
sought  out  Dunning  and  proved  to  the  satisfac 
tion  of  that  individual  that  the  documents  taken 
from  Davenport  were  his  property.  Then  Dav 
enport  was  put  through  the  "third  degree,"  as  it 
is  called  by  the  authorities,  and  finally  broke  down 
and  admitted  that  he,  Tate,  and  Jackson  had 
committed  the  assault  and  theft,  and  that  he 
had  likewise  tried  to  abscond  with  the  remaining 
funds  of  his  new  oil  company.  As  a  result  of  all 
this  he  was  later  sentenced  to  a  term  of  years  in 
prison.  About  three  months  later  still  Tate  and 
Jackson  were  caught,  and  also  made  to  do  time  at 
hard  labor. 

With  Davenport,  Tate  and  Jackson  out  of  it, 
the  management  of  the  new  oil  company  fell  upon, 
Gabe  Werner's  father.  Mr.  Werner  went  ahead 
with  the  two  wells  as  planned  by  the  others,  and 
in  them  sunk  not  only  a  large  amount  of  his  own 
funds,  but  also  funds  belonging  to  the  Martells 
and  Browns.  But  in  the  end  these  wells  proved 
to  be  little  better  than  dry  holes,  so  all  of  the 
money  was  lost. 

"It's  a  terrible  blow  for  all  three  families," 


THE  NEW  WELL— CONCLUSION 


307 


said  Dick  Rover,  when  this  occurred.  "It  will 
make  Mr.  Werner  quite  a  poor  man." 

"Well,  I  don't  particularly  wish  them  any  hard 
luck,"  remarked  Andy.  "Just  the  same,  I  guess 
Nappy,  Slugger  and  Gabe  got  what  was  coming 
to  them." 

On  the  day  following  the  arrest  of  Davenport 
the  first  of  the  wells  on  the  Franklin  farm  was 
shot  off.  It  proved  to  be  an  immense  success, 
the  flood  of  oil  carrying  away  almost  everything 
before  it. 

"Jumping  toothpicks !"  exclaimed  Randy,  when 
the  excitement  was  over.  "Nick  Ogilvie  says  she 
will  go  six  thousand  barrels  a  day!" 

"Just  to  think  of  it !"  cried  Jack,  his  eyes  gleam-, 
ing  with  pleasure.  "Six  thousand  barrels !  Isn't 
it  wonderful?  Six  thousand  barrels  at  two  dol 
lars  and  a  half  a  barrel  amounts  to  fifteen  thou 
sand  dollars !  Why,  it's  a  fortune  and  more !" 

"We'll  all  be  rich!  We'll  all  be  rich!"  sang 
out  Andy,  and,  grabbing  his  brother,  both  set  up 
a  wild  dance,  knocking  over  the  chairs  as  they 
did  so. 

It  was  certainly  a  gala  event,  and  the  Rovers 
lost  no  time  in  telegraphing  the  news  to  the  folks 
in  New  York  and  also  to  a  number  of  their 
friends.  Then  preparations  were  made  to  bring 
in  the  second  well,  and  this  proved  almost  as  good 


308    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

as  the  first,  running  between  four  and  five  thou 
sand  barrels  per  day  at  first,  and  then  settling 
down  to  fifteen  hundred,  while  the  first  well  for 
a  long  while  never  ran  below  twenty-five  hundred. 

"They  sure  are  a  pair  of  peaches!"  declared 
Dunning,  who  had  come  to  work  for  The  Rover 
Oil  Company.  "A  pair  of  peaches,  as  good  as 
any  in  this  district." 

"Do  you  know,  I  can  scarcely  believe  it's  true," 
said  Phil  Franklin  to  the  Rover  boys.  "Why,  my 
father  will  have  more  money  than  he  ever 
dreamed  of." 

"We're  as  glad  as  you  are,  Phil,"  declared 
Jack.  "Glad  on  your  account  as  well  as  our  own. 
Now  maybe  you  can  go  to  Colby  Hall  with  us."j 

"Say,  that  would  be  immense !"  exclaimed  Phil 
with  pleasure. 

And  how  Phil  Franklin  went  that  Fall  with 
the  Rovers  to  Colby  Hall  will  be  related  in  a  new 
volume,  to  be  entitled,  "The  Rover  Boys  at  Big 
Horn  Ranch;  or,  The  Cowboys'  Double  Round- 
Up."  In  that  book  we  shall  learn  more  concern 
ing  the  doings  of  Jack  and  his  cousins,  and  also 
learn  the  particulars  of  a  most  remarkable  trip  to 
the  far  West. 

Two  weeks  after  the  coming  in  of  the  first  well 
the  four  Rover  boys  returned  to  their  homes  in 
New  York  City.  There  an  agreeable  surprise 


THE  NEW  WELL— CONCLUSION  309 

awaited  them.  Gif  and  Spouter  had  come  down 
from  Lake  George  to  pay  them  a  visit. 

"Say,  this  is  just  all  right!"  cried  Jack,  as  the 
lads  shook  hands  all  around.  j 

"There  is  another  surprise  coming  this  even 
ing,"  said  Mary.  "But  we're  not  going  to  tell 
you  what  it  is." 

That  surprise  proved  to  be  the  coming  of  Ruth 
and  May.  As  yet  Ruth  had  to  wear  dark  glasses, 
but  she  said  that  the  eye  specialist  had  told  her 
that  these  could  be  discarded  in  a  week  or  two. 

"You  don't  know  how  thankful  I  am  that  your 
eyes  are  coming  around  all  right,"  said  Jack,  as 
he  caught  both  her  hands.  "It's  the  best  news  in 
the  world,  Ruth — far  better  than  that  big  oil 
well  coming  in  on  our  place  in  Texas." 

"I  am  thankful,  too,  Jack,"  she  answered.  "And 
doubly  thankful  that  you  haven't  had  to  go 
through  what  I  did  with  your  eyes." 

"I  guess  Gabe  Werner  has  got  his  deserts,"  put 
in  Randy.  "His  father  is  sinking  all  his  money 
in  those  good-for-nothing  wells  on  the  Spell 
claim." 

That  night  the  young  folks  had  something  of 
a  party,  and  it  is  perhaps  needless  to  say  that 
every  one  of  them  enjoyed  it  thoroughly.  Ruth, 
of  course,  had  to  be  careful  of  herself,  and  could 
not  dance,  but  Jack  gave  her  a  good  deal  of  his 


3io    THE  ROVER  BOYS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  LUCK 

company,  and  with  this  she  seemed  quite  content. 

Then  followed  a  week  or  more  in  which  the 
young  folks  went  out  on  numerous  outings,  both 
in  the  city  and  elsewhere.  Then  all  motored  up 
to  Valley  Brook  Farm,  there  to  spend  some  time 
with  Grandfather  Rover  and  Aunt  Martha  and 
Uncle  Randolph  before  returning  to  school. 

"Well,  it's  certainly  been  a  great  Summer,  after 
all!"  remarked  Fred. 

"It  sure  has !"  returned  Andy. 

"And  we  got  quite  a  lot  of  fun  out  of  it,"  added 
his  twin. 

"Fun,  and  a  good  deal  of  information,"  said 
Jack.  "It  certainly  paid  us  to  visit  The  Land  of 
Luck." 

THE     BND 


WESTERN  STORIES  FOR  BOYS 

By  JAMES  CODY  FERRIS 

Each  Volume  Complete  in  Itself. 

Thrilling  tales  of  the  great  west,  told  primarily  for  boys 
but  which  will  be  read  by  all  who  love  mystery,  rapid 
action,  and  adventures  in  the  great  open  spaces. 

The  Manly  boys,  Roy  and  Teddy,  are  the  sons  of  an  old 
ranchman,  the  owner  of  many  thousands  of  heads  of  cattle. 
The  lads  know  how  to  ride,  how  to  shoot,  and  how  to 
take  care  of  themselves  under  any  and  all  circumstances. 

The  cowboys  of  the  X  Bar  X  Ranch  are  real  cowboys, 
on  the  job  when  required,  but  full  of  fun  and  daring — a 
bunch  any  reader  will  be  delighted  to  know. 

THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  ON  THE  RANCH 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  IN  THUNDER  CANYON 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  ON  WHIRLPOOL  RIVER 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  ON  BIG  BISON  TRAIL 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  AT  THE  ROUND-UP 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  AT  NUGGET  CAMP 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  AT  RUSTLER'S  GAP 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  AT  GRIZZLY  PASS 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  LOST  IN  THE  ROCKIES 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  RIDING  FOR  LIFE 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  IN  SMOKY  VALLEY 
THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  AT  COPPERHEAD  GULCH 

THE  X  BAR  X  BOYS  BRANDING  THE  WILD 
HERD 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,    Publishers,    NEW  YORK 


THE  HARDY  BOYS  SERIES 

By  FRANKLIN  W.  DIXON 

Illustrated.    Every  Volume  Complete  in  Itself 

The  Hardy  Boys  are  sons  of  a  celebrated  American 
detective,  and  during  vacations  and  their  off  time  from 
school  they  help  their  father  by  hunting  down  clues  them 
selves. 

THE  TOWER  TREASURE— A  dying  criminal  confessed  that 
his  loot  had  been  secreted  "  in  the  tower."  It  remained  for  the 
Hardy  Boys  to  clear  up  the  mystery. 

THE  HOUSE  ON  THE  CLIFF— Mr.  Hardy  started  to  invest- 
igate — and  disappeared !  An  odd  tale,  with  plenty  of  excitement. 

THE  SECRET  OF  THE  OLD  MILL— Counterfeit  money  was 
in  circulation,  and  the  limit  was  reached  when  Mrs.  Hardy  took 
some  from  a  stranger.  A  tale  full  of  thrills. 

THE  MISSING  CHUMS— Two  of  the  Hardy  Boys'  chums 
disappear  and  are  almost  rescued  by  their  friends  when  all  are 
captured.  A  thrilling  story  of  adventure. 

HUNTING  FOR  HIDDEN  GOLD— in  tracing  some  stolen 
gold  the  trail  leads  the  boys  to  an  abandoned  mine,  and  there 
things  start  to  happen. 

THE  SHORE  ROAD  MYSTERY— Automobiles  were  disap 
pearing  most  mysteriously  from  the  Shore  Road.  It  remained  for 
the  Hardy  Boys  to  solve  the  mystery. 

THE  SECRET  OF  THE  CAVES— when  the  boys  reached 
the  caves  they  came  unexpectedly  upon  a  queer  old  hermit. 

THE  MYSTERY  OF  CABIN  ISLAND— A  story  of  queer 
adventures  on  a  rockbound  island. 

THE  GREAT  AIRPORT  MYSTERY— The  Hardy  Boys  solve 
the  mystery  of  the  disappearance  of  some  valuable  mail. 

WHAT  HAPPENED  AT  MIDNIGHT— The  boys  follow  a 
trail  that  ends  in  a  strange  and  exciting  situation. 

WHILE  THE  CLOCK  TICKED— The  Hardy  Boys  aid  in  vin 
dicating  a  man  who  has  been  wrongly  accused  of  a  crime. 

FOOTPRINTS  UNDER  THE  WINDOW— The  Smuggling 
of  Chinese  into  this  country  is  the  basis  of  this  story  in  which  the 
boys  find  thrills  and  excitement  aplenty. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  Publishers,  NEW  YORK 


ZANE  GREY  BOOKS  FOR  BOYS 

Packed  with  all  the  thrill  and  color  and 
action  that  have  made  this  author  famous ! 


THE  "KEN  WARD"  STORIES 

STORIES  OF  BASEBALL 

Hie  Ycrang  Forester 

The  Young  Pitcher 

Zant  Grey's  baseball  is  as 
real,  as  dramatic  and  as 

Kenneth  Ward,  a  youngr 

When   Ken  Ward   en 

thrilling  as  the   wester* 

eastern  lad  just  out  of  pre 

tered  Wayne  College  to 

stories  that  made  him  fa 

paratory  school,  goes  west 
on  his  summer  vacation 

pursue  his   study  of  for 
estry  he  discovered  that  as 
a  freshman  he  was  on  the 

mous, 

The  Redheaded  Outfield 

to    join    a   friend,     Dick 
Leslie,    a    government 
forest  ranger  in  Arizona. 

bottom  rung  and  had  to 
fight  to  win  his  way  to 
recognition.     His   first 

The  Redheaded  Outfield 
—  three  fiery-pated  players 
who  introduce  a  little  box 
ing  and  plenty  of  comedy 

Ken,    honest,    loyal    but 

claim  to  fame  comes  when 

into  the  game  will  delight 

hot-headed  runs  into 
plenty  of  excitement  and 
trouble  when  he  finds  that 
a  big  lumber  steal  is  go 

he  pummels  a  prominent 
sophomore  in  self-defense. 

Ken  Ward  in  the  Jangle 

you.    The  Rube—  who  is 
all  that  a  rube  should  be 
—  appears  in  a  whole  series 
of  these  stories  and  is  a 
character  you  won't  for 

ing  on. 

Ken    Ward   and   his 

get. 

The  Young  Lion  Hunter 

younger  brother  Hal  take 
a  trip  into   the  wilds  of 

The  Short-Stop 

Ken  Ward  and  his  kid 

Mexico  —  Ken   to   try    his 

Chase   Alloway    devel 

brother,    Hal,    spend    a 

hand  at  field  work  m  the 
jungle  and   Hal,  who  is 

oped  a  mean  curve  that 
had  the  small  town  play 

summer  on  a  forest  pre 

ambitious    to    become    a 

ers  buffaloed.  They  called 

serve  in  Utah  with  Ken's 
pal    Dick     Leslie.      The 

naturalist,  to  collect  speci 
mens.    The  boys  set  out 

him    "Chaseaway",    the 
"  Hoodoo"  and  '  crooked 

government  rangers   are 

to  solve  the  mysteries  of 

eye"  and  one  small  town 

out    after    the    mountain 
lions  and  the  boys  from 
the  east  are  glad  to  share 

the  Santa  Rosa  River,  an 
unknown  course  of  about 
a  hundred  and  seventy-five 
miles  through  uncharted 

team   was  all  for  having 
him  tarred  and  feathered  ! 
A  story  crowded  with  hard 
and  fast  baseball  —  and  a 

in  the  thrilling  work. 

jungle. 

dash  of  romance  ! 

STORIES  OF  THE  GREAT  WEST 


The  Last  of  the  Plainsmen 

"  He'd  rope  the  devil 
and  tie  him  down — if  the 
lasso  didn't  burn,"  it  was 
said  of  "  Buffalo  Jones," 
one  of  the  last  of  the  fa 
mous  plainsmen  who  trod 
the  trails  of  the  old  West. 
Killing  was  repulsive  to 
him  and  the  passion  of  his 
life  was  to  capture  wild 
beasts  alive. 

A  real  hunting  trip — 
with  constant  danger 
threatening  from  wild 
beasts,  Indians  and  the 
hazards  of  wild  country 
untouched  by  civilization. 


Roping  Lions  in  the  Grand 
Canyon 

A  true  story  of  Zane 
Grey's  experiences  captur 
ing  lions  alive,  which 
makes  ordinary  hunting 
with  guns  seem,  in  con 
trast  about  as  exciting  as 
a  Sunday-school  picnic. 
The  account  of  how  they 
captured  six  of  the  tawny, 
fiery-eyed  demons  which 
infest  the  bottom  of  the 
Grand  Canyoa,  and  got 
them  into  camp  alive  and 
growling,  will  enthrall  the 
great  host  of  Zane  Grey's 
boy  readers. 


The  Last  of  the  Great  Sconts 

The  life  story  of  "Buffalo 
Sill"  by 

HELEN  CODT  WETMOEE 
With  Foreivord  and  Con 
clusion  by  Zane  Grey. 

"Buffalo  Bill"— scout, 
pathfinder,  hunter  and  In 
dian  fighter  is  the  most 
famous  of  all  that  great 
company  of  frontiersmen 
who  opened  up  the  West 
for  civilization.  Indeed 
no  character  in  history 
makes  a  stronger  appeal 
to  the  imagination  than 
this  daring  hero  of  the 
old  west. 


GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  Publishers,  NEW  YORK 


BOB  CHASE  BIG  GAME  SERIES 

By  FRANK  A.  WARNER 


,  In  these  thrilling  stories  of  outdoor  life  the  hero  is  a 
young  lumberjack  who  is  a  crack  rifle  shot.  While 
tracking  game  in  the  Maine  woods  he  does  some  rich 
hunters  a  great  service.  They  become  interested  in  him 
and  take  him  on  various  hunting  expeditions  in  this 
country  and  abroad.  Bob  learns  what  it  is  to  face  not 
only  wildcats,  foxes  and  deer  but  also  bull  moose, 
Rocky  Mountain  grizzly  bears  and  many  other  species 
of  big  game. 

BOB  CHASE  WITH  THE  BIG  MOOSE  HUNTERS 
BOB  CHASE  AFTER  GRIZZLY  BEARS 
BOB  CHASE  IN  THE  TIGER'S  LAIR 
BOB  CHASE  WITH  THE  LION  HUNTERS 


GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,    PUBLISHERS,   NEW  YORK 


